Cisco IP Solution Center Infrastructure Reference, 3.0
Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager

Table Of Contents

Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager

Service Requests

Inventory Manager

Overview of Inventory Manager

Prerequisites and Limitations

Launching Inventory Manager

Install Java SDK 1.4.0

Install Java WebStart 1.0.1

Launch Inventory Manager

Preparing Inventory with Inventory Manager

Importing Devices from Configuration Files

Importing Devices with Autodiscovery

Configuring the Devices

Collecting Configuration Files

Creating a New Customer with Devices

Creating a New Provider with Devices

Importing Connections with Autodiscovery

Importing Services with Autodiscovery

Marking Interfaces for IPsec, Firewall, NAT, or QoS

Inventory Manager GUI Reference

Introducing IM GUI

Spreadsheet and Workbook Features

Accessing IM GUI

File Menu

New

Open

Required Attributes

Save

Close

Exit

Edit Menu

Insert More Devices

Remove Selected Devices

Move to New Customer

Move to New Provider

Move to Customer

Move to Provider

Edit Selected Devices

Edit Default Attributes

Load Default Values to Selected Cells

Apply Interface Marking Rules to Selection

Select All

View Menu

Fit Columns in Window

Show Color Coded Column Headers

Tasks Menu

Collect Latest Configuration Files

Start Autodiscovery

Start NPC Autodiscovery

Start Service Discovery

Tools Menu

Interface Marking Rule Editor

Logging Menu

Help

About

Topology

Introduction

Requirements

Conventions

Accessing the Topology Tool

Types of Views

VPN View

Logical View

Physical View

Filtering and Searching

Filtering

Searching

Using Maps

Loading a map

Layers

Map data

Node locations

Adding new maps

Devices

Accessing the Devices Window

Creating a Device

Creating a Cisco IOS Device

Creating a CatOs Device

Creating a Terminal Server

Creating a VPN 3000

Creating a PIX Firewall

Creating a Cisco CNS IE2100

Editing a Device

Deleting Devices

Editing a Device Configuration

E-mailing a Device's Owner

Device Groups

Accessing the Device Groups Window

Creating a Device Group

Editing a Device Group

Deleting Device Groups

E-mailing a Device Group

Customers

Accessing the Customers Window

Creating a Customer

Editing a Customer

Deleting Customers

Creating Customer Sites

Creating CPE Devices

Providers

Accessing the Providers Window

Creating a Provider

Editing a Provider

Deleting Providers

Creating Provider Regions

Creating PE Devices

Creating Access Domains

Resource Pools

Accessing the Resource Pools Window

Creating an IP Address Pool

Creating a Multicast Pool

Creating a Route Distinguisher and Route Target Pool

Creating a Site of Origin Pool

Creating a VC ID Pool

Creating a VLAN Pool

Deleting Resource Pools

CE Routing Communities

Accessing the CE Routing Communities Window

Creating CE Routing Communities

Deleting CE Routing Communities

VPNs

Accessing the VPNs Window

Creating a VPN

Deleting VPNs

AAA Servers

Accessing the AAA Servers Window

Defining an AAA Server

Deleting AAA Servers

Named Physical Circuits

Accessing the Named Physical Circuits Window

Creating a Named Physical Circuit

Deleting Named Physical Circuits


Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager


From the Home window you receive upon logging in, click the Service Inventory tab and you receive a window, as shown in Figure 4-1, "Service Inventory Selections."

Figure 4-1 Service Inventory Selections

Click on Inventory and Connection Manager and a window as shown in Figure 4-2, "Inventory and Connection Manager Selections," appears.

Figure 4-2 Inventory and Connection Manager Selections

From Inventory and Connection Manager, you can navigate to any of the following functions:

Service Requests Create, deploy, and manage Service Requests (SRs).

Inventory Manager Bulk-manage inventory elements.

Topology View topology maps.

Devices Create and manage Devices.

Device Groups Create and manage Device Groups.

Customers Create and manage Customers.

Providers Create and manage Providers.

Resource Pools Create and manage pools for IP address, Multicast address, Route Distinguisher, Route Target, Site of Origin, VC ID, and VLAN.

CE Routing Communities Create and manage CE Routing Communities.

VPNs Create and manage VPNs.

AAA Servers Create and manage AAA Servers.

Named Physical Circuits Create and manage Named Physical Circuits (NPCs).

Service Requests

Service Requests are explained in each of the User Guides for each of the licensed services.

Table 4-1, "Summary of IP Solution Center Service Request States," describes each ISC service request state. The states are listed in alphabetical order.

Table 4-1 Summary of IP Solution Center Service Request States 

Service Request Type
Description

Broken

The router is correctly configured but the service is unavailable (due to a broken cable or Layer 2 problem, for example).

An MPLS service request moves to Broken if the auditor finds the routing and forwarding tables for this service, but they do not match the service intent.

An IPsec service request moves to Broken if a ping fails for all the remote peers of the current device.

Closed

A service request moves to Closed if the service request should no longer be used during the provisioning or auditing process. A service request moves to the Closed state only upon successful audit of a decommission service request. ISC does not remove a service request from the database to allow for extended auditing. Only a specific administrator purge action results in service requests being removed.

Deployed

A service request moves to Deployed if the intention of the service request is found in the router configuration file. Deployed indicates that the configuration file has been downloaded to the router, and the intent of the request has been verified at the configuration level. That is, ISC downloaded the configlets to the routers and the service request passed the audit process.

Failed Audit

This state indicates that ISC downloaded the configlet to the router successfully, but the service request did not pass the audit. Therefore, the service did not move to the Deployed state. The Failed Audit state is initiated from the Pending state. Once a service request is deployed successfully, it cannot re-enter the Failed Audit state (except if the service request is redeployed).

Failed Deploy

The cause for a Failed Deploy status is that DCS reports that either the upload of the initial configuration file from the routers failed or the download of the configuration update to the routers failed (due to lost connection, faulty password, and so on).

Functional

An MPLS service request moves to Functional when the auditor finds the VPN routing and forwarding tables (VRF) for this service and they match with the service intent. This state requires that both the configuration file audit and the routing audit are successful.

An IPsec service request moves to Functional when the auditor finds that the router is configured properly and the IPsec traffic is flowing (ping is used to determine if IPsec traffic is flowing).

Invalid

Invalid indicates that the service request information is incorrect in some way. A service request moves to Invalid if the request was either internally inconsistent or not consistent with the rest of the existing network/router configurations (for example, no more interfaces were available on the router). The Provisioning Driver cannot generate configuration updates to service this request.

Lost

A service request moves to Lost when the Auditor cannot find a configuration-level verification of intent in the router configuration files. The service request was in the Deployed state, but now some or all router configuration information is missing. A service request can move to the Lost state only when the service request had been Deployed.

Pending

A service request moves to Pending when the Provisioning Driver determines that the request looks consistent and was able to generate the required configuration updates for this request. Pending indicates that the service request has generated the configuration updates and the configuration updates are successfully downloaded to the routers.

The Auditor regards pending service requests as new requests and begins the audit. If the service has been freshly provisioned and not yet audited, it is not an error (pending audit). However, if an audit is performed and the service is still pending, it is in an error state.

Requested

If the service is newly entered and not yet deployed, it is not an error. However, if a Deploy is done and it remains Requested, the service is in an error state.

Wait Deployed

This service request state pertains only when downloading configlets to a Cisco CNS-CE server, such as a Cisco CNS IE2100 appliance. Wait Deployed indicates that the configlet has been generated, but it has not been downloaded to the Cisco CNS-CE server because the device is not currently online. The configlet is staged in the repository until such time as the Cisco CNS-CE server notifies ISC that it is up. Configlets in the Wait Deployed state are then downloaded to the Cisco CNS-CE server.


Figure 4-3, "Service Request States Transition Diagram," shows the transitions of states.

Figure 4-3 Service Request States Transition Diagram

Inventory Manager

This section describes how to install, configure, and use Inventory Manager (IM) to prepare for provisioning services with ISC. It contains the following subsections:

Overview of Inventory Manager

Launching Inventory Manager

Preparing Inventory with Inventory Manager

Inventory Manager GUI Reference

Overview of Inventory Manager

Service providers and enterprise customers need a way to efficiently manage a large number of physical and logical devices. The IM application within ISC enables an operator to import network specific data into the ISC database in bulk mode. IM performs three primary functions:

Collection—provides bulk collection of configuration files from a variety of devices in a network.

Autodiscovery—provides bulk discovery of logical, physical, and service level connectivity in a network.

Administration—provides a method of managing bulk changes to inventory and service model data in the ISC provisioning process.

There are three different ways to get started with deploying services in ISC.

The quickest method is to import the configuration files of all of the target devices (for example, routers, firewalls, and switches) from a known location. These configuration files do not need to be the most current version of the device configuration but, to ease the set up process, the files should be from the current hardware configuration.

The second most common method is creation of devices without configuration files with subsequent collection from live routers to determine the current setup. In order to use this method you must know the host name, management address, and password for each device. Once collection is completed you can move the devices to a new or existing customer or provider, which is also known as the provider administrative domain (PAD).

The primary method for initializing target devices is autodiscovery. From an address and some parameters, the autodiscovery process uses Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) to discover devices within a specified number of hops from the starting point.

Prerequisites and Limitations

This document is intended for network engineers who have sufficient experience with MPLS VPN, L2VPN, and IPsec to provision these technologies using ISC.

All of the network elements that you plan to provision should support the required hardware features and Cisco IOS versions.

Client Requirements

To launch IM, the client device needs to run Java VM 1.4.0 and Java WebStart 1.0.1.

Name Resolution

IM requires name resolution. The ISC HTTP server host must be in the Domain Name System (DNS) that the web client is using or the name and address of the ISC server must be in the client host file.

SNMP

Prior to device discovery, SNMP must be enabled. All devices in the ISC provisioning environment must support SNMP. ISC supports SNMP versions 1, 2c, and 3.

CDP

Prior to device discovery, CDP must be enabled. IM uses CDP to perform the service discovery task. CDP should be enabled globally and at the interface level for each device in the ISC provisioning environment.

NAT

Prior to device discovery, no Network Address Translation (NAT) mapping for router IP addresses is allowed.

Group Membership Requirements

To run the Inventory Manager you need both the Collection_Task and the Device_Import_Task group memberships. This is the minimum requirement to successfully create physical or logical devices and to upload configuration files from the client to the ISC server.

Launching Inventory Manager

The first time you launch IM, perform these required tasks:

Install Java SDK 1.4.0

Install Java WebStart 1.0.1

Launch Inventory Manager

IM runs as a stand-alone Java application on a client machine. It also runs outside of the Java Virtual Machine (VM) on the main ISC master server. The current release of the IM application requires the client device to run Java VM 1.4.0 and Java WebStart 1.0.

If you do not have Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.4.0, run the j2sdk-1_4_0_03-windows-i586.exe program to install it onto your client device. You can download this program for Solaris, Linux, and Windows workstations from the following Sun archive URL:

http://java.sun.com/products/archive/j2se/1.4.0_03/

You can download the Java Web Start update package for Solaris, Linux, and Microsoft Windows from these URLs:

http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/download-windows.html

http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/download-solaris.html

http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/download-linux.html

The following description assumes you are using a PC based system running Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Build 5.00.2195 with Service Pack 2 applied.

Install Java SDK 1.4.0

To install Java Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.4.0 on the client device, follow these steps:


Step 1 Run j2sdk-1_4_0_03-windows-i586.exe, as shown in Figure 4-4.

Figure 4-4 Run j2sdk-1_4_0_03-windows-i586.exe

Follow the prompts and respond accordingly.

Step 2 Click Next when the Install Shield Wizard appears, as shown in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5 Install the Java SDK on the Client Device

The License Agreement window appears.

Step 3 Click Yes to accept the license agreement.

The Choose Folder dialog box appears.

Step 4 Set the correct path, then click OK, as shown in Figure 4-6.

Figure 4-6 Choose the Installation Folder

The Choose Destination Location window appears.

Step 5 To accept the new path, click Next, as shown in Figure 4-7.

Figure 4-7 Choose Destination Location

The Select Components dialog box appears.

Step 6 To accept the default components, click Next, as shown in Figure 4-8.

Figure 4-8 Accept the Default Components

The Select Browsers dialog box appears.

Step 7 Select the appropriate browser, then click Next, as shown in Figure 4-9.

Figure 4-9 Select Browser

Step 8 Click Finish to complete setup, as shown in Figure 4-10.

Figure 4-10 Complete Setup

The Client Java 2 SDK installation is complete.

Step 9 Proceed to the section "Install Java WebStart 1.0.1."


Install Java WebStart 1.0.1

To install Java WebStart 1.0.1, follow these steps:


Step 1 Run javaws-1_0_1-rt.exe, as shown in Figure 4-11.

Figure 4-11 Run javaws-1_0_1-rt.exe

Step 2 Accept the license agreement by clicking Accept.

The Installation Directory dialog box appears.

Step 3 Set the correct path, then click Next, as shown in Figure 4-12.

Figure 4-12 Set the Correct Path

The Java WebStart installation begins.

Step 4 When it is completed, you are asked whether you want to view the Readme.html file. Click No, as shown in Figure 4-13.

Figure 4-13 Finish Install

The Java WebStart installation is complete.

Step 5 Proceed to the section "Launch Inventory Manager."


Launch Inventory Manager

To launch IM, follow these steps:


Step 1 Log in to ISC.

Step 2 From the Welcome to ISC window, choose Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Inventory Manager.

Step 3 From the Service Inventory panel, launch the IM application on the web client. The Java Web Start window appears.

Step 4 From the Security Warning window, click Start to automatically complete the configuration, as shown in Figure 4-14.

Figure 4-14 Start Java WebStart

You receive the Java Web Start ISC - Inventory Manager window, as shown in Figure 4-15.

Figure 4-15 Java Web Start ISC - Inventory Manager

You should receive a splash image of Cisco Systems, if the installation is successful, as shown in Figure 4-16.

Figure 4-16 Java WebStart Splash Image

The Inventory Manager launches automatically and is connected to the Master ISC server.


Preparing Inventory with Inventory Manager

This section contains the following subsections:

Importing Devices from Configuration Files

Importing Devices with Autodiscovery

Configuring the Devices

Collecting Configuration Files

Creating a New Customer with Devices

Creating a New Provider with Devices

Importing Connections with Autodiscovery

Importing Services with Autodiscovery

Marking Interfaces for IPsec, Firewall, NAT, or QoS

Importing Devices from Configuration Files

If the configuration files are for a particular customer or provider, you can create a new customer or provider and associate the configuration files with CPEs or PEs. If the customer or provider currently exists in the repository, you can open them and insert more CPEs or PEs to be associated with new or existing sites or regions.

To import devices with configuration files, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager, choose File > New > New Device Group.

This step creates a container for target devices that can be moved to a provider or customer during the initialization process.

Step 2 Enter a device group name and click OK.

You receive a prompt to import configuration files. You probably have a repository of configuration files on an existing network management device or TFTP server. Copy these files to the web client machine for import or make them available with a shared directory.

Step 3 At the No Config Files Specified for Import prompt, click Yes.

The configuration files on the web client can be located by normal file browsing with both Shift and Control+Click select for multiple selections. When creating a new device group, only one filtering option is available: All Files.


Note When creating new Providers, there are filters for files containing a specific BGP autonomous system number, or files that do not contain BGP configuration. The BGP filters can also be used to select PE devices that must have BGP configured or CE devices that do not require BGP.


Step 4 At the Open dialog box, browse to the location of the configuration files you want to import.

The IM now imports a row in a spreadsheet workbook for each selected configuration file. By default, the IM inspects the configuration files and determines the device type, which includes Cisco IOS, CatOS, PIX, and VPN 3000. It also parses passwords, SNMP information, interfaces, and virtual circuits.

If cells in the resulting spreadsheet are empty, IM was not able to determine the value and, if it is required, the operator must provide the data or choose the information from a defined set of choices before saving.

These operations are described in more detail in the following sections as they are common to all methods of importing device information and administration.

Step 5 Once the appropriate files are selected, click Open, then click OK.


Importing Devices with Autodiscovery


Note The autodiscovery process can either be activated from the IM application or from the command line on the ISC server using the Cisco Cornerstone autodiscovery scripts.


To import devices with Autodiscovery, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager, select File > New > New Dynamic Device List.

This creates a spreadsheet where each row represents a potential seed device for discovery. For each seed device, the management interface must be provided. The management interface is the address on the device that the ISC host uses to reach the device.

After creating a new device list, a discovery starting point needs to be configured. This starting point is a device that can be reached from the ISC host. For each seed device, an accessible interface on the starting point is configured, because the management interface must be provided. The management interface is the address on the device that the ISC host uses to reach the device.

New dynamic device discovery requires the following manual tasks:

Entering a seed IP address

Entering a maximum hop count on the initialization of the task

A policy.xml file is created and a hop count is set automatically.

To choose the seed devices and hub, pick a seed device that can reach a large section of the network. Pick one or more of them until you think these devices will enable you to reach your entire managed network.

Point-of-presence (POP) routers are usually good choices. If you choose all the POPs in your network as the collection of seed devices and put in the appropriate number of hubs, you discover the entire managed network.

To pick the hub number, go to the CE that is the furthest from its associated POP, and count the number of devices between them. If this number is N, the hub number is N+1, assuming you are picking the POP as the seed.

Step 2 Click on the Management Address cell and enter the seed IP address for the new dynamic device list

Step 3 Choose Tasks > Start Autodiscovery.

A maximum hop count is specified for the autodiscovery process. The autodiscovery process queries the starting point device for its CDP table. From this table, all of those devices are queried for their CDP information. This CDP query process continues until the maximum hop count from the starting point is reached. Please note that only devices running the CDP process are discovered.

The autodiscovery process queries the starting point device for its CDP table. From this table, all of those devices are queried for their CDP information. This CDP query process continues until the maximum hop count from the starting point is reached.

Step 4 Specify the maximum hop count when you receive the prompt.


Note Only devices running the CDP process are discovered.


You are prompted to save two files. One file contains the list of the discovered devices and the other contains information related to connectivity between the devices. The discovered device information can be saved in XML to use as a starting point for future discovery efforts.

Step 5 Save the devices discovery.

Step 6 To view the autodiscovery logs, go to Administration > Control Center > Hosts > machine-name > cornerstone bridge.


Configuring the Devices

After the discovered devices are rendered in the spreadsheet, they must have several parameters set before the devices can be saved to the repository and perform a successful live configuration collection. These parameters include:

SNMP read and write community strings

Telnet login password

Device enable password


Note The reachable management address is usually Loopback 0.


First remove any devices that are not required in the provisioning process. These items include core network devices or non-PE, CPE, and CLE devices that are used within the operator's network.

To remove unwanted devices, follow these steps:


Step 1 Select the rows for the devices to de deleted.

Shift-select and Control-select are useful for multiple devices.

Step 2 Choose Edit > Remove Selected Devices.


It is common in networks for devices to share many parameters. The Defaults option allows these common parameters to be entered for many devices at the same time; for example, login password, enable password, and SNMP strings.

To edit multiple devices, follow these steps:


Step 1 Choose Edit > Edit Default Attributes.

A row for default values can be edited for each tab of the device list. The next step of the configuration process collects live configurations that require login and enable passwords.

Step 2 Enter login and enable passwords into the defaults row.

After entering the default values, select all of the devices that share those common parameters. For devices that have values other than the default values, you can perform multiple editing techniques.

Step 3 Select multiple rows or columns using standard selection techniques and choose Edit > Edit Selected Devices.

A dialog box, similar to the defaults window appears, allowing you to enter values to be applied to the selection.


Note You can right click on the column name and a menu appears showing you choices for sorting and selecting or deselecting of columns.


Step 4 To configure these devices, choose Load Default Attributes to Selected Cells.

The management IP address is the address that ISC uses to communicate with the element. This address must be reachable from the ISC host. When the devices were imported or discovered, ISC attempts to select the proper address as a management address starting with a loopback address. Verify the selected address for accessibility from the ISC host. ISC must be able to reach the network element for the configuration process to progress.

Step 5 Click on the Management Address cell and enter the IP address in the dialog box.


Collecting Configuration Files

Collecting configuration files serves two purposes. It loads the current configuration information for the device, which populates many of the cells. It also verifies reachability and passwords for the reachable devices.

This task is created in the repository and starts up right away. Logs can be viewed as normal for a collection spawned using only the Web GUI.

The task name is Inventory_Manager_Collection_xxxxxx_username, where xxxxxx is a unique number and the username is admin, or whatever the logged in username is in ISC.

To collect configurations, follow these steps:


Step 1 Select all the devices that have valid passwords and could be reached.

Step 2 Choose Tasks > Collect Latest Configuration Files.


Creating a New Customer with Devices

The devices should now be assigned roles, either PE or CE. You can assign roles by highlighting each device group and adding it to a new or existing Provider or Customer. Routers can be moved in bulk to customers with IM.

To move CE routers to a new customer, follow these steps:


Step 1 Select the desired routers and choose Edit > Move to New Customer.

Step 2 You are prompted to enter a customer name.

Step 3 Enter a customer name and click OK.

A new tab is created at the bottom of the device list and the routers are associated with the customer.

Each customer router must be put into a site. A site can have more than one router in it. All routers in a site should share routing information with the external provider network.

Step 4 Shift-select the Site Name cells for each customer router in the CPE Attributes tab.

Step 5 Choose Edit Selected Devices.

Step 6 Choose CUSTOMER_ID+"SITE"+HOST_NAME.

Repeat this process for all the CPEs.

All customer routers must have a Management Type selected. As with customer site, a range of router Management Type cells can be selected for bulk editing

Step 7 Click the Management Type cell for all CEs.

Step 8 Choose Edit Selected Devices.

Step 9 Select the Management Type.


Creating a New Provider with Devices

A provider or provider administrative domain (PAD) is a group of Provider Edge (PE) devices that share a common BGP AS.

To move PE routers to a new provider and create a region, follow these steps:


Step 1 Highlight the devices with a common BGP AS to be added to a new provider.

Step 2 Choose Edit > Move to New Provider.

When the devices are assigned a PAD, they become Provider Edge (PE) routers. PEs must be placed into regions. Each PAD must have one or more regions. A region is a collection of PEs that may share an address pool.

Step 3 To place a PE into a region, click on the Region cell for the PE.

If the desired region has already been created, it can be selected.

Step 4 Choose Create Region to add a region.

You can also add multiple PEs to a single region in one step using standard multiple selection techniques and choosing the Edit > Edit Selected Devices menu. As with single PE editing, you are prompted to choose an existing region or create a new region.

This completes the assignment of roles to devices.


Note The tabs at the top of the device list pane of the Inventory Manager window corresponds to a grouping of information about the devices. The symbol to the left of the tab name indicates whether all the information required on that tab has been configured. A red X means that additional information is required. A yellow check mark indicates that all required information has been entered but not all possible information. A green check mark shows that all information for that tab has been entered. To save the devices to the repository, each tab must show a check mark of either color.



Importing Connections with Autodiscovery

To discover connections, Named Physical Circuits (NPC), run NPC Autodiscovery. This task defines the PE and CE link information, which is used by Common Discovery in the final stage of the autodiscovery process. NPC Autodiscovery has one prerequisite, the connection.xml file. Ensure that this file has been uploaded from the ISC server to the client workstation before running this task.

To import connections with NPC Autodiscovery, follow these steps:


Step 1 Choose Tasks > Start NPC Autodiscovery.

You are prompted to provide the path to the correct connection.xml file.

Step 2 Select the correct connection.xml file and click OK.

A dialog box appears, indicating that the NPC discovery process has started.

Step 3 You are prompted if the task completes successfully. Select OK to finish this portion of the NPC autodiscovery process.

To find the discovered NPCs, go to Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Named Physical Circuits.


Importing Services with Autodiscovery

At this point, you can choose to run the Common Discovery process. ISC manages Ethernet over MPLS (L2VPN) and MPLS networks with IPsec. To detect free interfaces on each device for provisioning purposes, existing services either need to be discovered automatically or entered into the system manually.

For very large networks with many provisioned services, manual entry is time consuming and prone to human error. These issues are alleviated by the Common Discovery process. The Common Discovery process discovers:

Layer 3 MPLS VPN services

Layer 2 VPN services

To import services with Autodiscovery, follow these steps:


Step 1 Choose Tasks > Start Service Discovery.

You are prompted to select which type of Common Discovery to perform.

Step 2 To select both MPLS and L2VPN discovery, choose Both MPLS and L2VPN.

You are notified when service discovery is finished.

Step 3 To find the discovered service requests, go to Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Service Requests.


Marking Interfaces for IPsec, Firewall, NAT, or QoS

The interface marking process is only required for provisioning IPsec, Firewall, NAT, or QoS services. Marking interfaces on a one-by-one basis can be a very time consuming and tedious task. IM provides a helpful tool to create rules for marking interfaces based on predefined criteria. You can apply one or more rules to selected devices to mark the interfaces in a bulk fashion.

For IPsec, the public interfaces are the interfaces where the IPsec or GRE tunnels terminate and the private interfaces are the interfaces behind which the subnets to be protected reside.

For firewalls, the outside interfaces connect to the outside, typically unsecured, networks and the inside interfaces are for the subnets residing behind the firewall.

To mark interfaces with IM, follow these steps:


Step 1 Choose Tools > Interface Rule Marking Editor.

A window appears allowing you to create, modify, or delete existing rules or folders. One simple rule can mark all Loopback0 interfaces as public for IPsec.

Step 2 To apply a rule to one or more devices, select the device(s) in the spreadsheet.

Step 3 Choose Edit > Apply Interface Marking Rule(s) to the selection. A rule chooser appears allowing you to select one or more rules to be applied.


Note After completing the device configuration process, all of the red X marks on the Device List tabs should be converted to either yellow or green Check Marks. These marks indicate that you have completed the required configuration and can save the device list, provider, and/or customer. Save all of the completed lists by selecting Save under the file menu. Now all the device preparation should be complete and provisioning setup can begin.



Inventory Manager GUI Reference

This section describes how to use the Inventory Manager (IM) GUI in ISC. It is organized by the external design of the GUI: what you see when you look at the windows, menus, and options. It is intended for new users who want to get started with IM, and for experienced users who need a reference for the GUI workflow.

This section contains the following sections:

Introducing IM GUI

File Menu

Edit Menu

View Menu

Tasks Menu

Tools Menu

Logging Menu

Help

Introducing IM GUI

Although IM has the physical look and feel of any windows application, with File, Edit, View, Tasks, and Tools menus, the work flow is designed to have the logical view of a spreadsheet. When you learn how to use one spreadsheet in IM, you learn how to use them all. For example, when you learn how to set defaults or edit columns in one spreadsheet, you can set defaults or edit columns for each type of spreadsheet in IM.

Spreadsheet and Workbook Features

In IM, a selection of tabs within a spreadsheet is called a workbook. Multiple workbooks comprise a single system object most of the time.

To understand how the IM spreadsheet works, here are some highlights of this feature:

Spreadsheets and Workbooks

Contain device, PE, CPE, and Dynamic Device Lists

Group attributes by tabs

Tabs show the status of the entire spreadsheet with Icons

Red X signifies that this tab is missing required and nonrequired information

Yellow Arrow signifies that all required information is provided, but not all nonrequired information

Green Arrow signifies all information in the tab is provided (required and nonrequired)

Each tab has a table

Each table has columns

Host Name column is special

Does not scroll and is always the first column on the left

Only column that can select or de-select an entire row

Available in every tab for a given logical or physical device

Acts as a reference point when switching among tabs and scrolling to the right when columns exceed the window width (See menu View > Fit Columns in Window)

Each column has a unique Table Header and description.

Each Table Header has a right click popup menu for selection, de-selection, and sorting

Each Table Header can have a color, depending on the column status (all cells combined for one column ordered together)

As opposed to the Tab Icon referenced above, which displays the status of the entire spreadsheet, the color of the Column Header indicates the status of the entire individual column

When debugging why a tab has a Red X, this can help to pinpoint the column in error, or missing data, very quickly.

If you choose View > Display Color Coded Column Headers, you could see three colors

Red—some required data is missing in this column

Yellow—all required data is in this column, but not all nonrequired data

Green—all data is provided

Most individual cells can be edited, but not all columns

To edit a cell in a column, click on it

You can select or de-select multiple cells spanning multiple columns using standard selection techniques (Click, Shift-Click or Ctrl-Click)

You can edit multiple cells in a single column at once using Edit > Edit Selected Devices

You can edit multiple cells spanning multiple columns all at once using Edit > Edit Selected Devices

Every column can be sorted up or down by clicking on the column header or right clicking the column header and choosing a sort menu

When you sort a column in one tab of a spreadsheet workbook, it affects all other spreadsheets in the workbook

Close a workbook by choosing File > Close filename

Each Column

Has a description

Has referenced tabs (for example, Domain Name is in every general tab for each workbook)

Has an Interface Encapsulation Column (only in the PE and CPE spreadsheets)

Cell Editing (shows a dialog box when you click a cell)

Choices for each attribute (device role is either Cisco IOS, CATOS, PIX, or VPN 3000)

For some columns its a simple input text dialog

For some columns its a password editor

For some columns its a choice dialog with a list of available options

Accessing IM GUI

To access Inventory Manager, follow these steps:


Step 1 Log in to ISC.

Step 2 Choose Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Inventory Manager.

After initializing Java WebStart, the Inventory Manager window appears, as shown in Figure 4-17.

Figure 4-17 Connected to Inventory Manager

You are now ready to use Inventory Manager.


File Menu

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, File is the first menu on the Task Bar. The File menu has the following options:

New

Open

Required Attributes

Save

Close

Exit

New

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, New is the first option under the File menu on the Task Bar. The New option has the following options:

New Device Group

New Provider

New Region

New Customer

New Site

New Dynamic Device List (without existing configs)

New IE2100 Device List

Additionally, Add Configuration Files, is an option from alternate tabs.

New Device Group

To create a new Device Group, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > New > New Device Group, as shown in Figure 4-18.

Figure 4-18 New Device Group

The New Device Group window appears, as shown in Figure 4-19.


Note You have the option to add configuration files using the New Device Group window, by choosing the Config Files tab. For an example of how to add configuration files, see the "Add Configuration Files" section.


Figure 4-19 New Device Group

Step 2 Device Group Name: Enter the name of the device group.

Step 3 Description: Enter the description and click OK.

The No Config Files Specified for Import window appears, as shown in Figure 4-20.

Figure 4-20 No Config Files Specified for Import

Step 4 Choose No to create an empty Device Group

If you choose Yes, the Choose Config Files for Device Group window appears and you can add your configuration files to the Device Group, as shown in the "Add Configuration Files" section.


New Provider

To create a new Provider, follow these steps:


Note You have the option to add regions or configuration files using the New Provider window, by choosing the appropriate tab. For an example of how to add regions, see the "New Region" section. For an example of how to add configuration files, see the "Add Configuration Files" section.



Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > New > New Provider.

The New Provider window appears, as shown in Figure 4-21.

Figure 4-21 New Provider

Step 2 Provider Name: Enter the name of the Provider.

Step 3 BGP AS Number: Enter the BGP AS Number

Step 4 Contact Information: Enter the contact information and click OK.

The Inventory Manager menu appears with a spreadsheet for the Provider, as shown in Figure 4-22.

Figure 4-22 New Provider Spreadsheet

General Tab

The General tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Device Type

Device Description

Management Address

Domain Name

Access Protocol

Config Upload/Download

SNMP Version

Device Groups

Passwords Tab

The Passwords tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Login User

Login Password

Enable User

Enable Password

SNMP Read-Only

SNMP Read-Write

SNMPv3 Attributes Tab

The SNMPv3 Attributes contains the following columns:

Host Name

Security Level

Authentication User

Authentication Password

Authentication Algorithm

Encryption Password

Encryption Algorithm

PE Attributes Tab

The PE Attributes tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Provider Name

Region Name

Role

Loopback Interface

IS Managed

PE Interfaces Tab

The PE Interfaces tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

IP Address

Type

Encapsulation

IPsec

Firewall

NAT

QoS Candidate

PIX Logical Name

PIX Security Level

Description

CNS Attributes Tab

CNS Attributes Tab

The CNS Attributes tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

IE2100-Name

Device State

Event-Identification

CNS-Identification

Platform Information Tab

The Platform Information tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Platform

Software

Image

Serial


New Region

To create a new Region, follow these steps:


Note You have the option to add configuration files using the New Region for Provider window, by choosing the Config Files tab. For an example of how to add configuration files, see the "Add Configuration Files" section.



Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > New > New Region.

The New Region for Provider window appears, as shown in Figure 4-23.

Figure 4-23 New Region for Provider

Step 2 Region Name: Enter the name of the Region and click OK.

The Inventory Manager menu appears with a spreadsheet for the Provider, as shown in Figure 4-24.

Figure 4-24 New Provider Spreadsheet

For a description of the tabs and definition of the fields in the Provider, Region, and PE spreadsheets, see Figure 4-22.


New Customer

To create a new Customer, follow these steps:


Note You have the option to add sites or configuration files using the New Customer window, by choosing the appropriate tab. For an example of how to add sites, see the "New Site" section. For an example of how to add configuration files, see the "Add Configuration Files" section.



Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > New > Customer.

The New Customer window appears, as shown in Figure 4-25.

Figure 4-25 New Customer

Step 2 Customer Name: Enter the name of the Customer.

Step 3 Contact Information: Enter contact information and click OK.

The Inventory Manager menu appears with a spreadsheet for the Customer, as shown in Figure 4-26.

Figure 4-26 New Customer Spreadsheet

General Tab

The General tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Device Type

Device Description

Management Address

Domain Name

Access Protocol

Config Upload/Download

SNMP Version

Device Groups

Passwords Tab

The Passwords tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Login User

Login Password

Enable User

Enable Password

SNMP Read-Only

SNMP Read-Write

SNMPv3 Attributes Tab

The SNMPv3 Attributes contains the following columns:

Host Name

Security Level

Authentication User

Authentication Password

Authentication Algorithm

Encryption Password

Encryption Algorithm

CPE Attributes Tab

The CPE Attributes tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Customer Name

Site Name

Management Type

CPE Interfaces Tab

The CPE Interfaces tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

IP Address

Type

Encapsulation

IPsec

Firewall

NAT

QoS Candidate

PIX Logical Name

PIX Security Level

Description

CNS Attributes Tab

The CNS Attributes tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

IE2100-Name

Device State

Event-Identification

CNS-Identification

Platform Information Tab

The Platform Information tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Platform

Software

Image

Serial


New Site

To create a new Site, follow these steps:


Note You have the option to add configuration files using the New Site window, by choosing the Config Files tab. For an example of how to add configuration files, see Add Configuration Files.



Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > New > Site, as shown in Figure 4-27.

Figure 4-27 New Site

Step 2 Site Name: Enter the name of the Site.

Step 3 Site Information: Enter contact information and click OK.

The Inventory Manager menu appears with a spreadsheet for the Customer, as shown in Figure 4-28.

Figure 4-28 New Customer Spreadsheet


New Dynamic Device List (without existing configs)

If you do not have existing configuration files, you can create physical devices, using the Device Spreadsheet. The physical devices can be associated with logical devices at a later time.

To create a new dynamic device list, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > New > New Dynamic Device List (without existing configs).

A new Device Spreadsheet appears, as shown in Figure 4-29.

Figure 4-29 New Device Spreadsheet

Device Information

The Device Information tab contains the following columns:

Host Name

Domain Name

Management Address

Device Type

Device Description

Access Protocol

Config Upload/Download

Login User

Login Password

Enable Password

SNMP Read-Only

SNMP Read/Write

New IE2100 Device List

ISC supports the Cisco CNS IE2100 Device Access Protocol for communication with any Cisco IOS device. Inventory Manager supports the same functionality for the CNS IE2100 as the other devices described in the chapter.


Note For more specific information about Cisco CNS IE2100 appliances, see "Cisco CNS IE2100 Appliances".


Add Configuration Files

For an example of how to add configuration files in a new Device Group, follow these steps:


Note You can also use this procedure to add configuration files in the New Provider, Region, Customer, or Site windows.



Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > New > New Device Group, as shown in Figure 4-30.

Figure 4-30 New Device Group Option

The New Device Group window appears, as shown in Figure 4-31.

Step 2 Choose the Config Files tab to import configuration files.

Step 3 Choose Add.

Figure 4-31 New Device Group

The Open Config Files window appears, as shown in Figure 4-32. If you choose Open, the Open Config Files window appears, and you can add your configuration files to the Device Group.

Step 4 Choose Open to import the configuration files.

Figure 4-32 Open Config Files

A new row is added to the Spreadsheet Editor for the group, as shown in Figure 4-33.

Figure 4-33 Spreadsheet Editor

The Spreadsheet Editor enables you to specify attributes for physical devices. When you create devices this way, no logical devices such as CPE or PE are created

To finish, choose File > Save.

Open

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-18, Open is the second option under the File menu on the Task Bar. The Open option has the following options:

Open Discovery Seed File

Open Device Group

Open Provider

Open Region

Open Customer

Open Site

Open Discovery Seed File


Note A discovery seed file is an XML representation of the devices found during Autodiscovery.


To open a discovery seed file, follow this step:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Discovery Seed File.

The Open window appears, as shown in Figure 4-34.

Figure 4-34 Open Discovery Seed File

Step 2 Select the folder and choose Open.


Open Device Group

To open an existing Device Group, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Device Group.

A search dialog appears, as shown in Figure 4-35.

Figure 4-35 Open Device Group

Step 2 Click the Find button to download all Device Groups, enter the name to search for the one you want, or enter a partial name with an asterisk to get a list of available device names.

Step 3 Select the Device Group and click OK.

A Device Spreadsheet Editor appears, where you can edit device parameters such as passwords and SNMP information, as shown in Figure 4-36.

Figure 4-36 Device Spreadsheet Editor


Open Provider

To open an existing Provider, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Provider.

A search dialog appears, as shown in Figure 4-37.

Figure 4-37 Open Provider

Step 2 Click the Find button to download all Providers, enter the name to search for the one you want, or enter a partial name with an asterisk to get a list of available Providers.

Step 3 Select the Provider and choose OK.

A PE Spreadsheet Editor appears with all Regions and PEs for that Provider listed in the Spreadsheet Editor, as shown in Figure 4-38.


Note In the following example, the Spreadsheet Editor is empty.


Figure 4-38 PE Spreadsheet Editor


Open Region

To open an existing Region, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Region.

A search dialog appears, as shown in Figure 4-39.

Figure 4-39 Open Provider

Step 2 Click the Find button to download all Providers, enter the name of the provider to search for the one you want, or enter a partial name with an asterisk to get a list of available Providers.

Step 3 Select the Provider and choose OK.

Step 4 Choose from the list of existing Regions, as shown in Figure 4-40.

You can also create a Region for the Provider by choosing Create Region.

Figure 4-40 Open Region

A PE Spreadsheet Editor appears with all PEs for the Region listed in the Spreadsheet Editor, as shown in Figure 4-41.

Figure 4-41 PE Spreadsheet Editor


Open Customer

To open an existing Customer, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Customer.

A search dialog appears, as shown in Figure 4-42.

Figure 4-42 Open Customer

Step 2 Click the Find button to download all Customers, enter the name of the Customer to search for the one you want, or enter a partial name with an asterisk to get a list of available Customers.

Step 3 Select the Customer and choose OK.

A CPE Spreadsheet Editor appears with all Sites and CPE for the Customer listed in the Spreadsheet Editor, as shown in Figure 4-43.

Figure 4-43 CPE Spreadsheet Editor


Open Site

To open an existing Site, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Site.

A search dialog appears, as shown in Figure 4-44.

Figure 4-44 Open Customer

Step 2 Click the Find button to download all Customers, enter the name to search for the one you want, or enter a partial name with an asterisk to get a list of available Customers. You must specify a Customer first.

Step 3 Select the Customer and choose OK.

Choose from the list of existing Sites, as shown in Figure 4-45. You can also create a Site for the Customer by choosing Create Site.

Figure 4-45 Open Site

A CPE Spreadsheet Editor appears with all the CPEs for that Site listed in the Spreadsheet Editor, as shown in Figure 4-46.

Figure 4-46 CPE Spreadsheet Editor


Required Attributes

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-18, Required Attributes is the third option under the File menu on the Task Bar. To specify required attributes, you must open a Spreadsheet Editor for one of the following options:

Discovery Seed File (No example is provided)

Device Groups

Providers

Regions

PEs

Customers

Sites

CEs

The Spreadsheet Editors work the same for each inventory group. They default to the General tab and display a list of attributes. Some attributes in each Spreadsheet Editor are required and others are not. You can make some of the non-system required attributes required by clicking a checkbox for that attribute.

If an attribute is required, the spreadsheet tab will have a red X indicating that more information is required by the system for all later processing to proceed without errors. For example, errors can occur when processing service requests or creating a VPN. When all required information is filled out, the red X changes to either a yellow or green Continue Image. When you see a red X on a tab, it means you need to fill out more information for the tab.

From the Required Attributes option, you can specify required attributes for the following inventory groups:

Device Groups

Providers, Regions, and PE

Customers, Sites, and CE

Device Groups

To specify required attributes for a Device Group, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Device Group.

A search dialog appears.

Step 2 Select the Device Group and a Spreadsheet Editor appears, as shown in Figure 4-47.

Figure 4-47 Open Device Group

Step 3 Choose File > Required Attributes.

The General tab on the Required Attributes window for a Device Group appears, as shown in Figure 4-48.

Step 4 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-48 Generic Device - General Attributes

The General tab contains the following attributes:

Device Name

Device Description

Management Address

Domain Name

Access Protocol

Config Upload/Download

SNMP Version

Device Groups

Step 5 To modify attributes for passwords, choose the Passwords tab.

The Passwords tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-49.

Step 6 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-49 Generic Device - Password Attributes

The Passwords tab contains the following attributes:

Login User

Login Password

Enable User

Enable Password

SNMP Read-Only

SNMP Read-Write

Step 7 To modify attributes for SNMPv3, choose the SNMPv3 Attributes tab.

The SNMPv3 tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-50.

Step 8 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-50 Generic Device - SNMPv3 Attributes

The SNMPv3 Attributes tab contains the following attributes:

Security Level

Authentication User

Authentication Password

Authentication Algorithm

Encryption Password

Encryption Algorithm

Step 9 To modify attributes for CNS, choose the CNS Attributes tab.

The CNS tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-51.

Step 10 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-51 Generic Device - CNS Attributes

The CNS Attributes tab contains the following attributes:

IE2100-Name

Device State

Event-Identification

CNS-Identification

Step 11 To modify attributes for Platform Information, choose the Platform Information tab.

The Platform Information tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-52.

Step 12 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-52 Generic Device - Platform Information Attributes

The Platform Information tab contains the following attributes:

Platform

Software Version

Image Name

Serial Number


Providers, Regions, and PE

To specify required attributes for a Provider, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Provider.

A search dialog appears.

Step 2 Select the Provider and a Spreadsheet Editor appears, as shown in Figure 4-53.

Figure 4-53 Open Provider

Step 3 Choose File > Required Attributes.

The General tab on the Required Attributes window for the provider appears, as shown in Figure 4-54.

Step 4 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-54 PE Device - General Attributes

The General tab contains the following attributes:

Device Name

Device Description

Management Address

Domain Name

Access Protocol

Config Upload/Download

SNMP Version

Device Groups

Step 5 To modify attributes for passwords, choose the Passwords tab.

The Passwords tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-55.

Step 6 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-55 PE Device - Password Attributes

The Passwords tab contains the following attributes:

Login User

Login Password

Enable User

Enable Password

SNMP Read-Only

SNMP Read-Write

Step 7 To modify attributes for SNMP attributes, choose the SNMPv3 Attributes tab.

The SNMPv3 Attributes tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-56.

Step 8 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-56 PE Device - SNMPv3 Attributes

The SNMPv3 Attributes contains the following attributes:

Security Level

Authentication User

Authentication Password

Authentication Algorithm

Encryption Password

Encryption Algorithm

Step 9 To modify attributes for PE attributes, choose the PE Attributes tab.

The PE Attributes tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-57.

Step 10 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-57 PE Device - PE Attributes

The PE Attributes tab contains the following attributes:

Provider Name

Region Name

Role

Loopback Interface

IS Managed

Step 11 To modify attributes for PE interfaces, choose the PE Interfaces tab.

The PE Interfaces tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-58.

Step 12 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-58 PE Device - PE Interfaces

The PE Interfaces tab contains the following attributes:

IP Address

Type

Encapsulation

IPsec

Firewall

NAT

QoS Candidate

PIX Logical Name

PIX Security-Level

Description

Step 13 To modify attributes for CNS attributes, choose the CNS Attributes tab.

The CNS Attributes tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-59.

Step 14 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-59 PE Device - CNS Attributes

The CNS Attributes tab contains the following attributes:

IE2100-Name

Device-State

Event-Identification

CNS-Identification

Step 15 To modify attributes for Platform Information, choose the Platform Information tab.

The Platform Information tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-60.

Step 16 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-60 PE Device - Platform Information

The Platform Information tab contains the following attributes:

Platform

Software Version

Image Name

Serial Number


Customers, Sites, and CE

To specify required attributes for a Customer, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager menu, choose File > Open > Open Customer.

A search dialog appears.

Step 2 Select the Customer and a Spreadsheet Editor appears, as shown in Figure 4-61.

Figure 4-61 Open Customer

Step 3 Choose File > Required Attributes.

The General tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-62.

Step 4 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-62 CPE Device - General Attributes

The General tab contains the following attributes:

Device Name

Device Description

Management Address

Domain Name

Access Protocol

Config Upload/Download

SNMP Version

Device Groups

Step 5 To modify attributes for passwords, choose the Passwords tab.

The Passwords tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-63.

Step 6 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-63 CPE Device - Password Attributes

The Passwords tab contains the following attributes:

Login User

Login Password

Enable User

Enable Password

SNMP Read-Only

SNMP Read-Write

Step 7 To modify attributes for SNMPv3, choose the SNMPv3 Attributes tab.

The SNMPv3 Attributes tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-64.

Step 8 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-64 CPE Device - SNMPv3 Attributes

The SNMPv3 Attributes contains the following attributes:

Security Level

Authentication User

Authentication Password

Authentication Algorithm

Encryption Password

Encryption Algorithm

Step 9 To modify attributes for CPE, choose the CPE Attributes tab.

The CPE Attributes tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-65.

Step 10 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-65 CPE Device - CPE Attributes

The CPE Attributes tab contains the following attributes:

Customer Name

Site Name

Management Type

Step 11 To modify attributes for CPE interfaces, choose the CPE Interfaces tab.

The CPE Interfaces tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-66.

Step 12 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-66 CPE Device - CPE Interfaces

The CPE Interfaces tab contains the following attributes:

IP Address

Type

Encapsulation

IPsec

Firewall

NAT

QoS Candidate

PIX Logical-Name

PIX Security-Level

Description

Step 13 To modify attributes for CNS, choose the CNS Attributes tab.

The CNS Attributes tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-67.

Step 14 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-67 CPE Device - CNS Attributes

The CNS Attributes tab contains the following attributes:

IE2100-Name

Device-State

Event-Identification

CNS-Identification

Step 15 To modify attributes for Platform Information, choose the Platform Information tab.

The Platform Information tab on the Required Attributes window appears, as shown in Figure 4-68.

Step 16 To change an attribute to required, click the appropriate checkbox.

A check in the box indicates a value of required. A blank box indicates not required.

Figure 4-68 CPE Device - Platform Information Attributes

The Platform Information tab contains the following attributes:

Platform

Software Version

Image Name

Serial Number


Save

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-18, Save is the fourth option under the File menu on the Task Bar.

This option saves your work.

Close

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-18, Close is the fifth option under the File menu on the Task Bar.

This option name changes depending on which Spreadsheet Editor you choose. For example, if you are editing a Customer named CustomerA, the menu would show File Close CustomerA.

If there are changes to be saved, the system prompts you to save, and then the Spreadsheet Editor closes. You have an opportunity to cancel the operation if saving is required.

Exit

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-18, Exit is the sixth option under the File menu on the Task Bar.

This option shuts down the Inventory Manager. If there are changes to be made, the system prompts you to save changes before exiting.

Edit Menu

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, Edit is the second menu on the Task Bar. The Edit menu has the following options:

Insert More Devices

Remove Selected Devices

Move to New Customer

Move to New Provider

Move to Customer

Move to Provider

Edit Selected Devices

Edit Default Attributes

Load Default Values to Selected Cells

Apply Interface Marking Rules to Selection

Select All

Insert More Devices

When editing a Device Group, Provider, or Customer, choosing this option causes a File Open Dialog to appear, where you can select more configuration files to be inserted. A new row is created for each new configuration file that is added:

If you are editing a Provider or a Region, a physical device and a logical PE are created in the repository.

If you are editing a Customer or a Site, a physical device and a logical CPE are created in the repository.

If you are editing a Device Group, only a physical device is created and you must associate it with a PE or CPE using the Edit > Move To menu options.

If you are editing in a Dynamic Device List spreadsheet, choosing this option adds one more empty row into the spreadsheet for editing.

To insert more devices in a Spreadsheet Editor, choose Edit > Insert More Devices from the Inventory Manager window.

Remove Selected Devices

When editing a Device Group, Provider, or Customer, choosing this option allows selected rows to be removed from the spreadsheet.

To delete rows in a Spreadsheet Editor, choose Remove Selected Devices from the Inventory Manager window.

Use the Host Name Column to select rows of device information. A confirmation dialog appears. If you choose Yes, the selected rows are removed from the Spreadsheet Editor.


Note These objects are not removed from the repository.


Move to New Customer

This option is enabled only when you create devices using the Open Discovery Seed File or New Dynamic Device List options. You must select rows using the Host Name Column or the Select All option. The selected rows in the spreadsheet are moved to a new tab for a Customer in a CPE Spreadsheet Editor.

To create a new Customer and move the selected rows to a new CPE Spreadsheet Editor, follow these steps:


Step 1 Select the desired rows using the host name column of a device spreadsheet.

Step 2 From the Inventory Manager window, choose Edit > Move to New Customer to create a new Customer and move the selected rows to a new CPE Spreadsheet Editor.

Step 3 A dialog box prompts you to enter the new Customer information such as Name and Contact information.

Step 4 Click OK and the selected rows are removed from the current spreadsheet and moved into a new Customer CPE spreadsheet. In the process, each moved physical device is associated with a new CPE logical device in the ISC repository.

Step 5 Proceed to edit the CPE as you would for any Customer, by associating it with new Site objects. If the originating spreadsheet is empty after the operation, it automatically closes.


Move to New Provider

This option is enabled only when you create devices using the Open Discovery Seed File or New Dynamic Device List options. You must select rows using the Host Name Column or the Select All option. The selected rows in the spreadsheet are moved to a new tab for a Provider in a PE Spreadsheet Editor.

To create a new Provider and move the selected rows to a new PE Spreadsheet Editor, follow these steps:


Step 1 Select the desired rows using the host name column of a device spreadsheet.

Step 2 From the Inventory Manager window, choose Edit > Move to New Provider to create a new Provider and move the selected rows to a new PE Spreadsheet Editor.

Step 3 A dialog box prompts you to enter the new Provider information such as Name, BGP AS number, and Contact information.

Step 4 Click OK and the selected rows are removed from the current spreadsheet and moved into a new Customer PE spreadsheet. In the process, each moved physical device is associated with a new PE logical device in the ISC repository.

Step 5 Proceed to edit the PE as you would for any Provider, by associating it with new Region objects. If the originating spreadsheet is empty after the operation, it automatically closes.


Move to Customer

This option is enabled only when you create devices using the Open Discovery Seed File or New Dynamic Device List. You must use the Host Name Column or the Select All options to select rows. The selected rows in the spreadsheet are moved to a new tab for the customer in a CPE Spreadsheet Editor.

To select rows in a table, open an existing customer, and move the rows to a new CPE Spreadsheet Editor, and follow these steps:


Step 1 Select the desired rows using the host name column.

Step 2 From the Inventory Manager window, choose Edit > Move to Customer.

A dialog box appears asking you to enter the existing Customer name.

Step 3 Click the Find button and a list of customers appears.

Step 4 Choose a customer.

If you click OK, the selected rows are removed from the current spreadsheet into an existing customer CPE spreadsheet.


Note In the process, each moved physical device is associated with a new CPE logical device in the ISC repository.


Edit the CPEs as you would for any customer by associating them with new or existing Region objects. If the originating spreadsheet is empty after the operation, it automatically closes.


Move to Provider

This option is enabled only when you create devices using the Open Discovery Seed File or New Dynamic Device List. You must use the Host Name Column or the Select All options to select rows. The selected rows in the spreadsheet are moved to a new tab for the Provider in a PE Spreadsheet Editor.

To select rows in a table, open an existing provider, and move the rows to a new PE Spreadsheet Editor, and follow these steps:


Step 1 Select the desired rows using the host name column.

Step 2 From the Inventory Manager window, choose Edit > Move to Provider.

A dialog box appears asking you to enter the existing Provider name.

Step 3 Click the Find button and a list of providers appears.

Step 4 Choose a provider.

If you click OK, the selected rows are removed from the current spreadsheet into an existing Provider PE spreadsheet.


Note In the process, each moved physical device is associated with a new PE logical device in the ISC repository.


Step 5 Edit the PEs as you would for any provider by associating them with new or existing Region objects. If the originating spreadsheet is empty after the operation, it automatically closes.


Edit Selected Devices

To edit selected devices from rows in a spreadsheet, follow these steps:


Step 1 Choose Edit > Edit Selected Devices from the Inventory Manager window.

A Multi-Attribute Cell Editor appears where you can set a value that is applied to all selected cells for each respective column in the selection.

Step 2 Click the Multi-Attribute Editor cell to set the value.

Step 3 To edit an individual cell in a column, click the cell.

A column-specific editor appears.

Step 4 Use the column-specific editor to specify a value for the cell.

A new dialog appears showing a table with one row. Each column containing selected cells in the originating spreadsheet is represented in the dialog.

Step 5 Click each cell in the new dialog and a column specific editor appears allowing you to enter a value or select from a list of existing values.

Step 6 When you are finished filling in the one row spreadsheet, click OK and the values are applied to each selected cell in the original spreadsheet respectively.

Step 7 To edit a single value in a cell, click the cell.

You are prompted with a search dialog to specify the value. The type of search dialog depends on the column you are editing. For example, if you edit a username you are prompted with a single input editor. If you are editing a password column, you get a password editor.


To edit multiple attributes at one time, select the cells using the following standard techniques for multiple selections:

Select a single cell that represents the upper boundary. Press the Shift Key and select the lower boundary of the selection.

Click and drag to and from a boundary.

To toggle your selection, use the Ctrl Key down and click on a cell.

To select entire rows, use the Host Name Column as your main point of selection.

Edit Default Attributes

Each spreadsheet editor (Device Group, CPE, PE, and Dynamic Device List) has the ability to store separate default attributes. Defaults for passwords and other parameters for PEs can be different from those of CPEs.

For example, all PEs in a provider network can share the same passwords, SNMP attributes, and so on. Using IM, you can store default attributes for most of the attributes in each spreadsheet. These default attributes can then be applied to selected cells using the Edit > Load Default Attributes to Selected Cells menu.

To edit default attributes, follow these steps:


Step 1 Choose Edit > Edit Default Attributes from the Inventory Manager window.

A new dialog appears containing a table with one row.

Step 2 To specify the default attribute for a particular column, click it and specify the value in the column-specific editor.

Step 3 When you are finished editing the desired defaults, click the OK button and the default attributes are stored.


Each specific Spreadsheet Editor has its own unique set of columns. Each editor allows the specification for default values to be stored and retrieved at a later time. It is the standard spreadsheet format and to specify the values you must click on each cell. These values are automatically saved between sessions and are stored per user on the client machine running the Inventory Manager.

When specifying default values for the Management Address or PE Loopback Interface columns, you may enter more than one interface name.

For example, Loopback0;FastEthernet0;Ethernet0, where the separator between names must be a semi-colon. When attempting to set the Management Interface using the default supplied for any given device, the interfaces stored on the device must be checked against the value provided. If the value provided is Loopback0 and the interface does not exist on the device, it can not be set. The interface must actually exist on the device before IM allows it as a valid value.

In the example of Loopback0;FastEthernet0;Ethernet0, IM uses a left to right precedence rule. For each selected device it first checks to see whether Loopback0 exists. If it is found on the device, it is used as the correct value, otherwise it looks for FastEthernet0 and continues down the list until it finds an acceptable result. If no interfaces on the device match the request string, the value remains unchanged.

Load Default Values to Selected Cells

To load default values to selected cells, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager window, choose Edit > Edit Default Attributes.

Step 2 Select the desired cells in the spreadsheet.

Step 3 Choose Edit > Load Default Attributes to Selected Cells option.

Step 4 Specify the default attributes for desired columns.

Step 5 Modified the selected cell values with the default attribute, if possible.

Step 6 Select the cells you want to edit.

Step 7 Choose Edit > Load Default Values to Selected Cells.

The values that you stored using the Edit > Edit Default Attributes menu are applied to each selected cell.

For example, if all of the devices you are editing belong to the same provider and share the same passwords you can specify the default password and apply it to the entire spreadsheet without having to remember it.


Apply Interface Marking Rules to Selection

This menu is only enabled when you are editing logical devices, such as CPEs and PEs. It allows you to mark interfaces on devices and determine how network traffic flows on the network. You can specify values for NAT, IPsec, QoS, and Firewall.

To apply Interface Marking Rules to selected devices, you must first create a set of rules for your organization.

From the Inventory Manager window, choose Tools > Interface Marking Rule Editor to open a rule editor where you can import or export rule files or create new or modify existing rules.

To apply the rules, select the desired cells in the spreadsheet and from the Inventory Manager window, choose Tools > Apply Interface Marking Rules to Selection.

A Rule chooser dialog appears, allowing you to select one or more rules to be applied against the interfaces on a device.

If you have devices selected, each interface on the selected devices has the rule applied to it. If you have specific interfaces selected in the Interface tab it is only applied to the selected Interfaces. If a rule is applied against an interface, something may or may not happen with respect to NAT, QoS, IPsec, and Firewall. Something happens only if the interface meets the criteria of the rule. See the "Interface Marking Rule Editor" section for more details.

Select All

This option selects all the cells in a spreadsheet, except the host name column. Typically, the host name column is not editable and does not participate in typical edit operations.

If you want to select all rows in the spreadsheet, first click on the Host Name column and press the Ctrl+A accelerator key. This operation selects all the cells in a Spreadsheet Editor that are currently open.

From the Inventory Manager window, choose Edit > Select All to use this option.

View Menu

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, View is the third menu on the Task Bar. The View menu has the following options:

Fit Columns in Window

Show Color Coded Column Headers

Fit Columns in Window

From the Inventory Manager window, choose View > Fit Columns in Window to expand or contract the cells in the Spreadsheet Editor to fit the window.

Show Color Coded Column Headers

From the Inventory Manager window, choose View > Show Color Coded Column Headers to show the colors of the column headers.

Tasks Menu

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, Tasks is the fourth menu on the Task Bar. The Task menu has the following options:

Collect Latest Configuration Files

Start Autodiscovery

Start NPC Autodiscovery

Start Service Discovery

Collect Latest Configuration Files

This option is applied to selected rows in a spreadsheet, if rows are selected. If no rows are selected, all devices contained in the spreadsheet are visited and their configurations are downloaded to the ISC server. It is important for the login and enable passwords to be specified correctly, together with the management address, for each device to be reached and files to be successfully collected.

A persistent task is created on the Master server and IM waits for the collection process to complete. When the task completes, you are notified of success or failure. You can use the Web GUI to view the task logs on the Master server to see why a task has failed. If successful, you are prompted to refresh from the repository. This is recommended, because it is possible that the configuration has changed since the last time the configuration was retrieved.

From the Inventory Manager window, choose Tasks > Collect Latest Configuration Files to collect the latest configuration files.

Start Autodiscovery

From the Inventory Manager window, choose Tasks > Start Autodiscovery to start the device discovery process.

Start NPC Autodiscovery

From the Inventory Manager window, choose Tasks > Start Autodiscovery to start the connection discovery process.

Start Service Discovery

From the Inventory Manager window, choose Tasks > Start Autodiscovery to start the service discovery process.

Tools Menu

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, Tools is the fifth menu on the Task Bar. The Tools menu has the following option:

Interface Marking Rule Editor

Interface Marking Rule Editor

To mark interfaces, follow these steps:


Step 1 From the Inventory Manager window, choose Tools > Interface Rule Marking Editor.

A window appears where you can create, modify, or delete existing rules or folders. One rule can mark all Loopback0 interfaces as public for IPsec.

Step 2 To apply a rule to one or more devices, select the device(s) in the spreadsheet.

From the Inventory Manager window, choose Edit > Apply Interface Marking Rule(s) to the selection. A rule chooser appears for you to select and apply one or more rules.


Logging Menu

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, Logging is the sixth menu on the Task Bar. The Logging menu allows you to specify the following log output levels to the Logging UI:

All

All log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application

Severe

Only severe log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application

Warning

Only warning and severe log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application

Info

Only informational, warning, and severe log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application

Fine

Only fine, informational, warning, and severe log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application

Finer

Only finer, fine, informational, warning, and severe log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application

Finest

Only finest, finer, fine, informational, warning, and severe log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application

Off

No log messages are sent to the Log Viewer located near the bottom of the IM Application.

Help

From the Inventory Manager window, shown in Figure 4-17, Help is the seventh menu on the Task Bar. The Help menu has the following option:

About

About

Loads the About dialog showing version information and some web URLs for Cisco Systems Inc.

Topology

The topology tool provides a graphical view of networks set up through the ISC web client. It gives a graphical representation of the various physical and logical parts of the network, both devices and links.

Introduction

Requirements

Conventions

Accessing the Topology Tool

Types of Views

VPN View

Logical View

Physical View

Filtering and Searching

Filtering

Searching

Using Maps

Loading a map

Layers

Map data

Node locations

Adding new maps

Devices.

Introduction

The topology tool includes three types of views:

VPN view—shows connectivity between customer devices

Logical view—shows logical connections set up in a selected provider region

Physical view—displays connectivity of named physical circuits in a provider region.

In addition, this chapter describes the following features:

Filtering and Searching—filter out unnecessary detail in large graphs or jump straight to a particular device using the search tool

Using Maps—associate maps with the individual views.

Please note that some details, such as window decorations, are system specific and may appear differently in different environments. However, the functionality should remain consistent.

Requirements

To run the topology tool, Java Webstart and JRE 1.4.0 must be installed on the client system.

Conventions

Topology software uses several conventions to visually communicate information about displayed objects. The shape of a node representing a device depends on the role of the device, as listed in Table 4-2:

Table 4-2 Device Role Shapes 

Shape
Device Roles

Provider devices in the Point-of-Presence (PoP) role

Provider devices in the Customer Location Edge (CLE) role

Provider devices in the CORE role

Customer devices


The icon inside the node reflects the device type. Table 4-3 shows the icons used by the topology viewer:

Table 4-3 Device Type Icons

Icon
Device Type

Cisco router

Firewall

Terminal server

CAT OS

VPN 3000


Additional icons, used to represent provider's regions and interfaces associated with devices, are shown in Table 4-4:

Table 4-4 Additional Icons

Icon
Object Type

Interface

Provider's region


Each link type is marked with one of the four colors shown in Table 4-5. Thin, 1-point wide links are used to express presumed connectivity, such as an interface associated with a device or a provider device associated with a region.

Table 4-5 Link Type Color Scheme

Color
Connection Type

(green)

End-to-end wire

(purple)

Attachment circuit

(light blue)

IPsec tunnel

(brown)

MPLS VPN link


Finally, the four patterns shown in Table 4-6 are used to indicate the service request state:

Table 4-6 Link State Pattern Scheme

Pattern
Service Request State

Deployed, functional, pending

Failed audit, invalid, broken, lost

Wait deploy, requested, failed deploy

Closed


Accessing the Topology Tool

To access the Topology tool, use the following steps:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Topology Tool > Topology.

The message "Starting the ISC Web Start Application. Please wait..." is displayed while information is gathered for the specific topology.

Step 2 A logon window is displayed. Enter User Name and Password.

The Topology window shown in Figure 4-69 appears.

Figure 4-69 Topology Application Window

The application window is divided into four areas, as shown in Figure 4-69:

area (1)—The top left corner shows the Overview area. The colored rectangular panel, called the panner, corresponds to the area currently visible in the main area. Moving the panner around changes the part of the graph showing in the main area. This is particularly useful for large graphs.

area (2)—The bottom left area shows the Tree View of the graph. When no graph is shown, a single node called Unnamed is displayed. When a graph is shown, a tree depicting devices and their possible interfaces and connections is displayed. The tree can be used to quickly locate a device or a connection.

area (3)—The main area (Main View) of the window shows a graph representing connections between devices. The name of the displayed network is shown at the bottom. When no view is present, the name defaults to Unnamed.

area (4)—Above the main window is the Filter area. It allows you to filter nodes by entering regular expressions. Nodes whose name matches the entered expression maintain the normal level of brightness. All other nodes and edges become dimmed, as shown in Figure 4-77 and the "Filtering" section.


Note The bottom bar below all the areas, is a Status bar.



Views are loaded, saved, and closed using the File menu, as shown in Figure 4-70.

Figure 4-70 The File Menu

The File menu contains the following menu items:

Open Opens a view

Save Saves the open and active view with the existing file name, if any

Save as... Prompts you to enter a file name to save the open and active view

Save All Saves all open views

Close Closes the open and active view

Close All Closes all open views

Print... Prints the open and active view

Exit Exits the Topology tool.

Types of Views

There are three view panes in the topology application and they are described in the following sections:

VPN View, shows connectivity between devices in a VPN

Logical View, shows connectivity between PEs and CPEs in a region

Physical View, shows physical devices and links for PEs in a region.

The view attributes may be changed using the View menu, as shown in Figure 4-71.

Figure 4-71 The View Menu

The View menu contains the following menu items:

Anti-Aliasing—When drawing a view, this creates smoother lines and a more pleasant appearance at the expense of performance.

Grid—Activates a magnetic grid. The grid has a 10 by 10 spacing and may be used to help align nodes in a view.

Auto-Layout—Generates an automatic layout of nodes in a view. If selected, the program tries to find the most presentable arrangement of nodes.

Zoom—Opens a dialog where the desired magnification level can be specified.

Zoom In— Increases the magnification level.

Zoom Out—Decreases the magnification level.

Refresh—Regenerates the view. This is especially useful if the data in the repository changes. To see an updated view, select Refresh or click the Refresh toolbar button.

VPN View

The VPN view shows connectivity between devices forming a given VPN. To activate the VPN view, use the following steps:


Step 1 In the menu bar, select File > Open.

or

click the Open button in the tool bar.

The Open dialog box appears.

Step 2 Navigate to the VPN folder, select the desired VPN name, and click Open.

This opens the VPN View, as shown in Figure 4-72.

A single view may show a combination of MPLS, Layer 2, and IPsec VPNs. For MPLS and IPsec, only the Customer Premises Equipment devices (CPEs) are shown. The Layer 2 VPN may in addition to CPEs show connectivity between Customer Location Edge devices (CLEs) or Provider Edge devices (PE).

Figure 4-72 VPN View


Logical View

The logical view shows connectivity, created through service requests, between provider edge devices (PEs) and customer edge devices (CEs) of a given region.

To activate the logical view, use the following steps:


Step 1 In the menu bar, select File > Open.

or

click the Open button in the tool bar.

The Open dialog box appears.

Step 2 Navigate to the Providers folder and open the desired provider's folder.

Step 3 Inside the folder, select the region you are interested in and double-click to open the corresponding folder.

Step 4 Select Logical Connectivity and click Open.

This creates a logical view for the selected region of the chosen provider, as shown in Figure 4-73.

Figure 4-73 Logical View

In a created view, the round node, usually located in the center of the graph, is the node representing a given region of a provider. The node is annotated with the name of the region and the name of the provider. You may right-click on the node and select Region... in the pop-up menu to view a tabulated list of regional properties.

Each node directly connected to the regional node represents a PE. The icon and the shape of a node depends on the type and the role of the device it represents (refer to the "Conventions" section).

Each PE is annotated with the fully-qualified device name and the management IP address. A right-click on a node displays the details of the logical and physical device, interfaces, and service requests (SR) associated with the node, as shown in Figure 4-74. For the regional node, details are shown in a tabulated form.

Figure 4-74 Interface Details Table

Each PE may be logically connected to one or more CPEs. Such connections are created by either MPLS VPN links, Layer 2 Logical Links, or IPsec service request tunnels. Each such connection is represented by an edge linking the given PE to a CPE. If there are more connections between a particular PE and CPE, all of them are shown. Depending on the state of a connection, the edge is drawn using a solid line (for functioning connections), dotted line (for broken connections), or dashed line (for connections yet to be established).

Depending on the connection type, the connection is drawn as described in Table 4-4.

In the Overview area, a direct connection is drawn between a CPE and a PE, even if a number of devices are forming such a connection. To view the details of a connection, right-click on it and select the Expand option from a pop-up menu. The expanded view, displayed in a new tab, shows all devices and interfaces making a given PE to CPE connection, as shown in Figure 4-75.

Figure 4-75 Detailed Connection View


Physical View

A physical view shows all named physical circuits defined for PEs in a given region. Each named physical circuit is represented as a sequence of connections leading from a PE through its interfaces to interfaces of CLEs or CPEs. All physical links between PEs of a given region and their CLEs or CPEs are shown. Since physical links are assumed to be in a perfect operational order, edges are always drawn with solid lines.

To activate the physical view, use the following steps:


Step 1 In the menu bar, select File > Open.

or

click the Open button in the tool bar.

The Open dialog box appears.

Step 2 Navigate to the Providers folder and open the desired provider's folder.

Step 3 Inside the folder, select the desired region and open the corresponding folder.

Step 4 Select Physical Connectivity and click Open. This starts the process of creating a physical view for the selected region of the chosen provider, as shown in Figure 4-76.

Figure 4-76 Physical View

In this view, each device is connected with a thin line to the interfaces it owns. Interfaces are connected to other interfaces with thick lines. If there is more than one connection between two interfaces, they are spaced to show all of them.

The tree shows devices and connections. Each device may be a folder, holding all interfaces connected to it.


Filtering and Searching

On large graphs, the amount of detail can be overwhelming. In such cases, filtering might help eliminate unnecessary details, while searching can lead to a prompt location of a device you wish to examine further.

Both advanced filtering and searching use the same dialog to enter conditions on nodes to be either filtered or located. The filtering area also allows you to quickly filter viewed objects by name.

Filtering

The topology view can be filtered in two ways, simple and advanced.

Simple Filtering

To perform simple filtering of the view, do as follows:


Step 1 Enter a string in area (4) of the main window, as shown in Figure 4-69.

Step 2 Press Enter to dim all objects whose name does not contain the specified string.

For example, to locate nodes that contain string router in their name you would enter router in area (4) and click Enter. All objects whose name does not contain the entered string are dimmed, as shown in Figure 4-77.

Figure 4-77 Physical View with Dimmed Nodes


Note Regular expressions are supported but only in the advanced dialog (click Advanced... button). For example, by entering ^foo.*a, you only request nodes that have names starting with "foo" followed by arbitrary characters and containing the letter 'a' somewhere in the name. The regular expressions must follow the rules defined for Java regular expressions.



Advanced Filtering

To perform advanced filtering, do as follows:


Step 1 Open the advanced filtering dialog by clicking the Advanced... button. The Advanced Filter dialog appears, as shown in Figure 4-78.

Step 2 Make the desired filtering elections.

The dialog allows you to enter one or more conditions on filtered nodes. The first drop-down menu allows you to specify the attribute by which the filtering is performed. The second allows you to decide how the matching between the value of the attribute and text entered in the third column is performed.

The following matching modes are supported from the drop-down menu:

contains—The attribute value is fetched from the device and it is checked if it contains the string given by you. The string can be located at the start, end, or middle of the attribute for the match to succeed. For example, if the pattern is cle the following values match it in the contains mode: clean, nucleus, circle.

starts with—The value of the attribute must start with the string given by you. For example, if the pattern is foot, footwork matches, but afoot does not.

ends with—This is the reverse of the starts with case, when a given attribute matches only if the specified pattern is at the end of the attribute value. In this mode, for example, the pattern foot matches afoot but not footwork.

doesn't contain—In this mode, only those strings that do not contain the given pattern match. The results are opposite to that of the contains mode. For example, if you specify cle in this mode, clean, nucleus, and circle are rejected, but foot is deemed to match, because it does not contain cle.

matches—This is the most generic mode, in which you may specify a full or partial expression that defines which nodes you are interested in.

Figure 4-78 Advanced Filter dialog

By checking one of the two radio buttons, Match any conditions or Match all conditions, you may request that any or all of the conditions are matched. In the first case, you may look for devices where, for example, the name contains cisco and the management IP address ends with 204. When all conditions need to be met, it is possible to look for devices that, for example, have a given name and platform.

Click More or Fewer to add more rows of conditions or remove existing rows of conditions.

By default, all matches are performed without regard for upper or lower case. However, in some cases it is beneficial to have a more exact matching that takes the case into account. To do so, check the Match case checkbox.

Step 3 Click OK to start the filtering process. Click Cancel to hide the dialog without any changes to the state of the filters.

The Clear button allows you to clear all conditions. Clicking Clear followed by OK effectively removes all filtering, restoring all nodes to their default brightness level. If filtering is active, the same can be achieved by clicking Clear in area (4) of the main window, as shown in Figure 4-69.


Searching

Searching can be conducted by using the menus or the tool bar. To perform a search, do as follows:


Step 1 Select Find in the Edit menu

or

Click the Find icon in the main toolbar.

Both approaches bring up the same dialog box, as shown in Figure 4-79.

Again, you may enter one or more conditions to locate the node.

Figure 4-79 Find Dialog Box

Step 2 Make the desired filtering selections. Match modes, case checkbox, and the radio button are used as described under Advanced Filtering, as shown in Figure 4-78.

Step 3 Click OK to start searching for the first node that matches the given criteria. If found, the node is highlighted and the view is shifted to make it appear in the currently viewed area of the main window.

Step 4 After the first search, press F3 or click the Find Again button to repeat the search. If more than one node matches the condition the Find Again function highlights each one of them. If no nodes match the entered criteria, the Object Not Found dialog box appears.


Using Maps

You may associate a map with each view. Currently, the topology viewer only supports maps in the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) shape format. The following sections describe how to load maps and selectively view map layers and data associated with each map.

The map features are accessed from the Map menu shown in Figure 4-80.

Figure 4-80 The Map Menu

The Map menu contains the following menu items:

Open Map... Loads a map into the application

Clear Map Clears the active map from the current view

View Allows you to select which layers in the map should be displayed (for example, country, state, city).

Loading a map

You may wish to set a background map showing the physical locations of the displayed devices. To load a map, use the following steps:


Step 1 In the menu bar, select Map > Open Map....

or

Press Ctrl-M

Providing the web map server is running and operational, the Load Map window appears, as shown in Figure 4-81.

Figure 4-81 Load Map Window

Step 2 Make your selections in the Load Map window.

The right-hand side of the window contains a small control panel, which allows you to select the projection in which a map is shown. A map projection is a projection that maps a sphere onto a plane. Typical projections are Mercator, Lambert, and Stereographic.

For more information on projections, consult the Map Projections section of Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics at:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/topics/MapProjections.html

For each projection, you may also select the region of the map to be shown. In most cases, the predefined values should be sufficient. The top level the file hierarchy should contain folders for all major regions, such as Europe, North America, Oceania, and so on.

If desired, make changes to the settings in the Longitude Range and Latitude Range fields.

Step 3 Navigate to the desired folder.

Each folder may contain either complete maps or folders for countries. Each map is clearly distinguished with the Map icon.

Step 4 Select a map file and click Open to load the map.

Selecting the map file and clicking the Open button starts loading it. Maps may consist of several components and thus a progress dialog is shown informing you which part of the map file is loaded.


Layers

Each map may contain several layers. For example most country maps have country, region, and city layers, as shown in Figure 4-82.

Figure 4-82 Map Layers

After a map is loaded, the View submenu of the Map menu is automatically populated for you. A name of each available layer is shown together with the checkbox indicating visibility of the layer. If a given map shows too many details, you may turn off some or all layers by deselecting the corresponding checkbox(es). The same submenu can be used to restore visibility of layers.

If an incorrect map is loaded or the performance of the topology tool is unsatisfactory with the map loaded you may clear the map entirely. To do this, select Clear Map from the Map menu. Maps are automatically cleared if another map is loaded.

Consequently if you wish just to load another map, there is no need to clear the existing map. The act of loading a new map does this.

Map data

If map data files are successfully loaded with the map, the right field of the Status bar shows the longitude and latitude location of the cursor on the map. If map objects, such as cities, lakes, and so on, have data associated with them, their names are displayed after the longitude and latitude coordinates.

Node locations

Once a map is successfully loaded, the view area is adjusted to fully accommodate it, as shown in Figure 4-83. If nodes shown on the window had longitude and latitude information associated with them, they are moved to locations on the map corresponding to their geographical location. If not, their positions remain unchanged.

However, you may manually move them to the desired location and save the positions for future reference. The next time the image of a given network is loaded, node positions are restored and the map file is loaded.

Figure 4-83 Physical View with a Map of Japan

Adding new maps

You may need to add your own maps to the selection of maps available to the topology application. This is done by placing a map file in the desired directory within the ISC installation. To make this example more accessible, assume that you wish to add a map of Toowong, a suburb of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. The first step to do so is to obtain maps from a map vendor. All maps must be in the ESRI shape file format (see ESRI shapefile technical description). In addition, a data file may accompany each shape file. Data files contain information about objects whose shapes are contained within the shape file. Let us assume that the vendor provided four files:

toowong_city.shp

toowong_city.dbf

toowong_street.shp

toowong_street.dbf

We need to create a map file that informs the topology application about layers of the map. In this case we have two layers: a city and a street layer. The map file, say, Toowong.map, would thus have the following contents:

toowong_city
toowong_street

It lists all layers that create a map of Toowong. The order is important, as the first file forms the background layer, with other layers placed on top of the preceding layers.

Having obtained shape and data files and having written the map file, decide on its location. As mentioned, Toowong is a suburb of Brisbane, located in Queensland, Australia. All map files must be located in or under the $ISC_HOME/resources/webserver/tomcat/webapps/ipsc-maps/data directory. Since by default this directory contains a directory called Oceania intended for all maps from that region, simply create a path Australia/Queensland/Brisbane under the directory Oceania. Next, place all five files in this location. Once this is done, the map is automatically accessible to the topology viewer.

Devices

Every network element that ISC manages must be defined as a device in the system. An element is any device from which ISC can collect information. In most cases, devices are Cisco IOS routers that function as edge routers in the IPsec VPN, or as Provider Edge Routers (PEs) or Customer Edge Routers (CEs) in the MPLS VPN.

This section describes how to define, edit, delete, and configure various types of supported devices. This section includes the following:

Accessing the Devices Window

Creating a Device

Editing a Device

Deleting Devices

Editing a Device Configuration

E-mailing a Device's Owner

Accessing the Devices Window

The Devices feature is used to create, edit, delete, and configure devices, and e-mail the device owner.

To access the Devices window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices to access the Devices window shown in Figure 4-84.

Figure 4-84 Devices List Window

The Devices window contains the following:

Device Name Lists the fully qualified host and domain name of the device. You can sort the list of devices by device name.

Management IP Address Lists the management IP address or the IE2100 address. You can sort the list of devices by this field.

Type Lists the type of the device. Types include: Cisco IOS Device, CatOs Device, Terminal Server, VPN 3000, PIX Firewall, and IE2100.

In the Devices window, you can create, edit, delete, or configure devices or e-mail the device owner using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new devices. Enabled only if no devices are selected.

Edit Click to edit selected device (select device by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single device is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected device (select device by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more devices are selected.

Config Click to change the selected device configuration (select device by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single device is selected.

E-mail Click to send e-mail to the owner of selected device (select device by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more devices are selected.


Creating a Device

From the Create window, you can define different types of devices.

To create a device, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

The Create options appear, as shown in Figure 4-85.

Figure 4-85 Create Options Window

The Create options include the following:

Cisco IOS Device Any router that runs the Cisco IOS. This includes Catalyst devices running Cisco IOS.

CatOs Device A Catalyst device running the Catalyst Operating System.

Terminal Server A device that represents the workstation that can be used to provision edge routers.

VPN 3000 Any router in the Cisco VPN 3000 Series Concentrator family.

PIX Firewall Any Cisco PIX Firewall.

IE2100 Any Cisco Intelligence Engine (IE) 2100 series network device.

Step 3 Refer to the following sections for instructions on creating each type of device.

Creating a Cisco IOS Device

Creating a CatOs Device

Creating a Terminal Server

Creating a VPN 3000

Creating a PIX Firewall

Creating a Cisco CNS IE2100


Creating a Cisco IOS Device

To create a Cisco IOS device, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

Step 3 Select Cisco IOS Device.

The Create Cisco IOS Device window appears, as shown in Figure 4-86.

Figure 4-86 Create Cisco IOS Device Window

The General section of the Create Cisco IOS Device window contains the following fields:

Device Host Name Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. This field is required and must match the name configured on the target router device. Limited to 256 characters.

Device Domain Name (optional) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. The name must match the domain name on the target router device.

Description (optional) Limited to 80 characters. May contain any pertinent information about the device such as the type of device, its location, or other information that may be helpful to service provider operators.

Collection Zone (optional) Drop down list of all collection zones within the ISC. Choices include: None and all collection zones within the ISC. Default: None.

Management IP Address (optional) Valid IP address of the device that ISC uses to configure the target router device.

Interfaces (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, edit, and delete all interfaces associated with the device. Refer to Table 4-7 for a description of the Interface fields.

Table 4-7 Create Cisco IOS Device Interface Fields 

Field
Description
Additional

Name

Name of this interface.

List can be sorted by this field. Limited to 80 characters.

IP Address

IP address associated with this interface.

 

L2 Encapsulation

The Layer 2 Encapsulation for this device.

UNKNOWN

DEFAULT

DOT1Q

ETHERNET

ISL

FRAME_RELAY

FRAME_RELAY_IETF

HDLS

PPP

ATM

AAL5SNAP

AAL0

AAL5

AAL5MUX

AAL5NLPID

AAL2

ENCAP_QinQ

GRE

Description

Description of the interface.

This field only contains information when editing an existing interface. Information is based on device configuration.

IP Address Type

Type of IP address associated with this interface.

UNKNOWN

STATIC

UNNUMBERED

DHCP

PPP

DOCSIS


Associated Groups (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, and remove all Device Group associations.

The Login and Password Information section of the Create Cisco IOS Device window contains the following fields:

Login User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Login Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Enable Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

The Device and Configuration Access Information section of the Create Cisco IOS Device window contains the following fields:

Terminal Session Protocol (optional) Configures the method of communication between ISC and the device. Choices include: Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH), and CNS. In previous versions of ISC this field was called the Transport field. Default: Terminal.

Config Access Protocol (optional) Administers the access protocol for config upload and download. Choices include: Terminal, TFTP, and FTP. Default: Terminal.

SNMP Version (optional) Configures the version of SNMP to use when communicating with the device. Choices include: SNMP v1/v2c and SNMP v3. Default: SNMP v1/v2c.

The SNMP v1/v2c section of the Create Cisco IOS Device window contains the following fields:

Community String RO (required) SNMP Read-Only Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Community String RW (required) SNMP Read-Write Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Step 4 Enter the desired information for the Cisco IOS device you are creating.

Step 5 To access the Additional Properties section of the Create Cisco IOS Device, click Edit.

The Cisco IOS Device Properties window appears, as shown in Figure 4-87.

Figure 4-87 Cisco IOS Device Properties Window

The SNMP v3 section of the Cisco IOS Device Properties window contains the following fields:

SNMP Security Level (optional) Choices include: No Authentication/No Encryption, Authentication/No Encryption, and Authentication/Encryption. Default: No Authentication/No Encryption.

Authentication User Name (optional) User name configured on the specified device router. User must have permission to the object identification numbers (OIDs) specified in the security request (that is, write permission for a set request, and read permission for a get request). Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Algorithm (optional) Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None, MD5, and SHA. Default: None.

Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Password. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Encryption Algorithm (optional) In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Protocol. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None and DES 56. Default: None.

The Terminal Server and CNS Options section of the Cisco IOS Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Terminal Server (optional) Choices include: None and the list of existing Terminal Server names. Default: None.

Port Number (optional) Disabled until a Terminal Server is selected. Range: 0-65535. Default: 0.

CNS Identification Required if the Device Event Identification field is set to CNS_ID. Only valid characters that Cisco IOS allows are alphanumeric characters and (.) (-) (_).

Device State (optional) Choices include: ACTIVE and INACTIVE. ACTIVE indicates that the router has been plugged on the network and can be part of ISC tasks such as collect config and provisioning. INACTIVE indicates the router has not been plugged-in. Default: ACTIVE.

Device Event Identification (optional) Indicates whether the CNS Identification field contains a HOST_NAME or CNS_ID. Default: HOST_NAME.

IE2100 (optional) Disabled unless the Device State field is INACTIVE or the Terminal Session Protocol field is CNS. A valid IE2100 must be selected if the Terminal Session Protocol is CNS. Choices include: None and the list of existing IE2100 names. Default: None.

The Device Platform Information section of the Cisco IOS Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Platform (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Software Version (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Image Name (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Serial Number (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Device Owner's Email Address (optional) Used in the To: field when the Email button is selected from the device list. Limited to 80 characters and must be valid Email format.

Step 6 Enter any desired Additional Properties information for the Cisco IOS device you are creating.

Step 7 Click OK.

Step 8 Click Save.

The Devices window reappears with the new Cisco IOS device listed.


Creating a CatOs Device

To create a CatOs device, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

Step 3 Select CatOs Device.

The Create Catalyst Device window appears, as shown in Figure 4-88.

Figure 4-88 Create Catalyst Device Window

The General section of the Create Catalyst Device window contains the following fields:

Device Host Name (required) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. This field must match the name configured on the target router device. Limited to 256 characters.

Device Domain Name (optional) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. The name must match the domain name on the target router device.

Description (optional) Limited to 80 characters. May contain any pertinent information about the device such as the type of device, its location, or other information that may be helpful to service provider operators.

Collection Zone (optional) Drop down list of all collection zones within the ISC. Choices include: None and all collection zones within the ISC. Default: None.

Management IP Address (optional) Valid IP address of the device that ISC uses to configure the target router device.

Interfaces (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, edit, and delete all interfaces associated with the device. Refer to Table 4-8 for a description of the Interfaces fields.

Table 4-8 Create Catalyst Device Interfaces Fields 

Field
Description
Additional

Name

Name of this interface.

List can be sorted by this field. Limited to 80 characters.

IP Address

IP address associated with this interface.

 

L2 Encapsulation

The Layer 2 Encapsulation for this device.

UNKNOWN

DEFAULT

DOT1Q

ETHERNET

ISL

FRAME_RELAY

FRAME_RELAY_IETF

HDLS

PPP

ATM

AAL5SNAP

AAL0

AAL5

AAL5MUX

AAL5NLPID

AAL2

ENCAP_QinQ

GRE

Description

Description of the interface.

This field only contains information when editing an existing interface. Information is based on device configuration.

IP Address Type

Type of IP address associated with this interface.

UNKNOWN

STATIC

UNNUMBERED

DHCP

PPP

DOCSIS


Associated Groups (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, and remove all Device Group associations.

The Login and Password Information section of the Create Catalyst Device window contains the following fields:

Login User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Login Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Enable Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

The Device and Configuration Access Information section of the Create Catalyst Device window contains the following fields:

Terminal Session Protocol (optional) Configures the method of communication between ISC and the device. Choices include: Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH), and CNS. In previous versions of ISC, this field was called the Transport field. Default: Telnet.

Config Access Protocol (optional) Administers the access protocol for config upload and download. Choices include: Terminal, TFTP, and FTP. Default: Terminal.

SNMP Version (optional) Configures the version of SNMP to use when communicating with the device. Choices include: SNMP v1/v2c and SNMP v3. Default: SNMP v1/v2c.

The SNMP v1/v2c section of the Create Catalyst Device window contains the following fields:

Community String RO (required) SNMP Read-Only Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Community String RW (required) SNMP Read-Write Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Step 4 Enter the desired information for the Catalyst device you are creating.

Step 5 To access the Additional Properties section of the Create Catalyst Device, click Edit.

The Catalyst Device Properties window appears, as shown in Figure 4-89.

Figure 4-89 Catalyst Device Properties Window

The SNMP v3 section of the Catalyst Device Properties window contains the following fields:

SNMP Security Level (optional) Choices include: No Authentication/No Encryption, Authentication/No Encryption, and Authentication/Encryption. Default: No Authentication/No Encryption.

Authentication User Name (optional) User name configured on the specified device router. User must have permission to the object identification numbers (OIDs) specified in the security request (that is, write permission for a set request, and read permission for a get request). Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Algorithm (optional) Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None, MD5, and SHA. Default: None.

Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Password. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Encryption Algorithm (optional) In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Protocol. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None and DES 56. Default: None.

The Terminal Server Options section of the Catalyst Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Terminal Server (optional) Choices include: None and the list of existing Terminal Server names. Default: None.

Port Number (optional) Disabled until a Terminal Server is selected. Range: 0-65535. Default: 0.

The Device Platform Information section of the Cisco IOS Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Platform (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Software Version (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Image Name (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Serial Number (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Device Owner's Email Address (optional) Used in the To: field when the Email button is selected from the device list. Limited to 80 characters and must be valid Email format.

Step 6 Enter any desired Additional Properties information for the Catalyst device you are creating.

Step 7 Click OK.

Step 8 Click Save.

The Devices window reappears with the new Catalyst device listed.


Creating a Terminal Server

To create a Terminal Server device, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

Step 3 Select Terminal Server.

The Create Terminal Server window appears, as shown in Figure 4-90.

Figure 4-90 Create Terminal Server Window

The General section of the Create Terminal Server window contains the following fields:

Device Host Name (required) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. This field must match the name configured on the target router device. Limited to 256 characters.

Device Domain Name (optional) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. The name must match the domain name on the target router device.

Description (optional) Limited to 80 characters. May contain any pertinent information about the device such as the type of device, its location, or other information that may be helpful to service provider operators.

Collection Zone (optional) Drop down list of all collection zones within the ISC. Choices include: None and all collection zones within the ISC. Default: None.

Management IP Address (optional) Valid IP address of the device that ISC uses to configure the target router device.

Interfaces (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, edit, and delete all interfaces associated with the device. Refer to Table 4-9 for a description of the Interfaces fields.

Table 4-9 Create Terminal Server Device Interfaces Fields 

Field
Description
Additional

Name

Name of this interface.

List can be sorted by this field. Limited to 80 characters.

IP Address

IP address associated with this interface.

 

L2 Encapsulation

The Layer 2 Encapsulation for this device.

UNKNOWN

DEFAULT

DOT1Q

ETHERNET

ISL

FRAME_RELAY

FRAME_RELAY_IETF

HDLS

PPP

ATM

AAL5SNAP

AAL0

AAL5

AAL5MUX

AAL5NLPID

AAL2

ENCAP_QinQ

GRE

Description

Description of the interface.

This field only contains information when editing an existing interface. Information is based on device configuration.

IP Address Type

Type of IP address associated with this interface.

UNKNOWN

STATIC

UNNUMBERED

DHCP

PPP

DOCSIS


Associated Groups (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, and remove all Device Group associations.

The Login and Password Information section of the Create Terminal Server window contains the following fields:

Login User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Login Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Enable Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

The Device and Configuration Access Information section of the Create Terminal Server window contains the following fields:

Terminal Session Protocol (optional) Configures the method of communication between ISC and the device. Choices include: Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH), and CNS. In previous versions of ISC, this field was called the Transport field. Default: Telnet.

Config Access Protocol (optional) Administers the access protocol for config upload and download. Choices include: Terminal, TFTP, and FTP. Default: Terminal.

SNMP Version (optional) Configures the version of SNMP to use when communicating with the device. Choices include: SNMP v1/v2c and SNMP v3. Default: SNMP v1/v2c.

The SNMP v1/v2c section of the Create Terminal Server window contains the following fields:

Community String RO (required) SNMP Read-Only Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Community String RW (required) SNMP Read-Write Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Step 4 Enter the desired information for the Terminal Server you are creating.

Step 5 To access the Additional Properties section of the Create Terminal Server, click Edit.

The Terminal Server Device Properties window appears, as shown in Figure 4-91.

Figure 4-91 Terminal Server Device Properties Window

The SNMP v3 section of the Terminal Server Device Properties window contains the following fields:

SNMP Security Level (optional) Choices include: No Authentication/No Encryption, Authentication/No Encryption, and Authentication/Encryption. Default: No Authentication/No Encryption.

Authentication User Name (optional) User name configured on the specified device router. User must have permission to the object identification numbers (OIDs) specified in the security request (that is, write permission for a set request, and read permission for a get request). Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Algorithm (optional) Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None, MD5, and SHA. Default: None.

Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Password. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Encryption Algorithm (optional) In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Protocol. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None and DES 56. Default: None.

The Device Platform Information section of the Terminal Server Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Platform (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Software Version (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Image Name (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Serial Number (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Device Owner's Email Address (optional) Used in the To: field when the Email button is selected from the device list. Limited to 80 characters and must be valid Email format.

Step 6 Enter any desired Additional Properties information for the Terminal Server device you are creating.

Step 7 Click OK.

Step 8 Click Save.

The Devices window reappears with the new Terminal Server device listed.


Creating a VPN 3000

To create a VPN 3000 device, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

Step 3 Select VPN 3000.

The Create VPN 3000 Device window appears, as shown in Figure 4-92.

Figure 4-92 Create VPN 3000 Device Window

The General section of the Create VPN 3000 Device window contains the following fields:

Device Host Name (required) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. This field must match the name configured on the target router device. Limited to 255 characters.

Device Domain Name (optional) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. The name must match the domain name on the target router device.

Description (optional) Limited to 80 characters. May contain any pertinent information about the device such as the type of device, its location, or other information that may be helpful to service provider operators.

Collection Zone (optional) Drop down list of all collection zones within the ISC. Choices include: None and all collection zones within the ISC. Default: None.

Management IP Address (optional) Valid IP address of the device that ISC uses to configure the target router device.

Interfaces (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, edit, and delete all interfaces associated with the device. Refer to Table 4-10 for a description of the Interfaces fields.

Table 4-10 Create VPN 3000 Device Interfaces Fields 

Field
Description
Additional

Name

Name of this interface.

List can be sorted by this field. Limited to 80 characters.

IP Address

IP address associated with this interface.

 

L2 Encapsulation

The Layer 2 Encapsulation for this device.

UNKNOWN

DEFAULT

DOT1Q

ETHERNET

ISL

FRAME_RELAY

FRAME_RELAY_IETF

HDLS

PPP

ATM

AAL5SNAP

AAL0

AAL5

AAL5MUX

AAL5NLPID

AAL2

ENCAP_QinQ

GRE

Description

Description of the interface.

This field only contains information when editing an existing interface. Information is based on device configuration.

IP Address Type

Type of IP address associated with this interface.

UNKNOWN

STATIC

UNNUMBERED

DHCP

PPP

DOCSIS


Associated Groups (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, and remove all Device Group associations.

The Login and Password Information section of the Create VPN 3000 Device window contains the following fields:

Login User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Login Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

The Device Platform Information section of the Create VPN 3000 Device window contains the following fields:

Platform (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Software Version (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Image Name (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Serial Number (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Device Owner's Email Address (optional) Used in the To: field when the Email button is selected from the device list. Limited to 80 characters and must be valid Email format.

Step 4 Enter the desired information for the VPN 3000 device you are creating.

Step 5 Click Save.

The Devices window reappears with the new VPN 3000 device listed.


Creating a PIX Firewall

To create a PIX Firewall device, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

Step 3 Select PIX Firewall.

The Create PIX Firewall window appears, as shown in Figure 4-93.

Figure 4-93 Create PIX Firewall Window

The General section of the Create PIX Firewall window contains the following fields:

Device Host Name (required) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. This field must match the name configured on the target router device. Limited to 256 characters.

Device Domain Name (optional) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. The name must match the domain name on the target router device.

Description (optional) Limited to 80 characters. May contain any pertinent information about the device such as the type of device, its location, or other information that may be helpful to service provider operators.

Collection Zone (optional) Drop down list of all collection zones within the ISC. Choices include: None and all collection zones within the ISC. Default: None.

Management IP Address (optional) Valid IP address of the device that ISC uses to configure the target router device.

Interfaces (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, edit, and delete all interfaces associated with the device. Refer to Table 4-11 for a description of the Interfaces fields.

Table 4-11 Create PIX Firewall Device Interfaces Fields 

Field
Description
Additional

Name

Name of this interface.

List can be sorted by this field. Limited to 80 characters.

IP Address

IP address associated with this interface.

 

L2 Encapsulation

The Layer 2 Encapsulation for this device.

UNKNOWN

DEFAULT

DOT1Q

ETHERNET

ISL

FRAME_RELAY

FRAME_RELAY_IETF

HDLS

PPP

ATM

AAL5SNAP

AAL0

AAL5

AAL5MUX

AAL5NLPID

AAL2

ENCAP_QinQ

GRE

Description

Description of the interface.

This field is displayed only. Field is populated by a collection/import of config file.

IP Address Type

Type of IP address associated with this interface.

UNKNOWN

STATIC

UNNUMBERED

DHCP

PPP

DOCSIS

Security Level

Security level of this interface.

This field is displayed only. Field is populated by a collection/import of config file.

Logical Name

Logical name of this interface.

This field is displayed only. Field is populated by a collection/import of config file.

Failover IP

Failover IP address associated with this interface.

This field is only displayed if the Failover Type is set to Normal or Stateful.


Associated Groups (optional) Click the Edit button to view, add, and remove all Device Group associations.

The Login and Password Information section of the Create PIX Firewall window contains the following fields:

Login User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download will not function without the Login User and Login Password as ISC will not be able to access the device. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Login Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Login Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable User (optional) Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Not required by ISC. However, collection and upload/download only function if the Login User has sufficient privileges to configure the router in EXEC mode. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Enable Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Enable Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

The Device and Configuration Access Information section of the Create PIX Firewall window contains the following fields:

Terminal Session Protocol (optional) Configures the method of communication between ISC and the device. Choices include: Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH), and CNS. In previous versions of ISC, this field was called the Transport field. Default: Telnet.

Config Access Protocol (optional) Administers the access protocol for config upload and download. Choices include: Terminal, TFTP, and FTP. Default: Terminal.

SNMP Version (optional) Configures the version of SNMP to use when communicating with the device. Choices include: SNMP v1/v2c and SNMP v3. Default: SNMP v1/v2c.

The SNMP v1/v2c section of the Create PIX Firewall window contains the following fields:

Community String RO (required) SNMP Read-Only Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Community String RW (required) SNMP Read-Write Community String. Many tasks use SNMP to access the device. This field must match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Step 4 Enter the desired information for the PIX Firewall device you are creating.

Step 5 To access the Additional Properties section of the Create PIX Firewall, click Edit.

The PIX Device Properties window appears, as shown in Figure 4-94.

Figure 4-94 PIX Device Properties Window

The SNMP v3 section of the PIX Device Properties window contains the following fields:

SNMP Security Level (optional) Choices include: No Authentication/No Encryption, Authentication/No Encryption, and Authentication/Encryption. Default: No Authentication/No Encryption.

Authentication User Name (optional) User name configured on the specified device router. User must have permission to the object identification numbers (OIDs) specified in the security request (that is, write permission for a set request, and read permission for a get request). Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Authentication Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Authentication Algorithm (optional) Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/No Encryption or Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None, MD5, and SHA. Default: None.

Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Password. Should match what is configured on the target router device. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Limited to 80 characters.

Verify Encryption Password (optional) Displayed as stars (*). Must match the Encryption Password field. Limited to 80 characters.

Encryption Algorithm (optional) In previous versions of ISC, this field was called Privacy Protocol. Should be provisioned if the SNMP Security Level is Authentication/Encryption. Choices include: None and DES 56. Default: None.

The Terminal Server Options section of the PIX Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Terminal Server (optional) Choices include: None and the list of existing Terminal Server names. Default: None.

Port (optional) Disabled until a Terminal Server is selected. Range: 0-65535. Default: 0.

The Failover Options section of the PIX Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Failover Type Determines whether failover is enabled for this PIX device. Choices: None, Normal, and Stateful. Default: None.

LAN Based Failover (optional) Enabled only if the Failover Type is Normal or Stateful.

Failover LAN Key (optional) The key used in LAN based Failover. Limited to 20 characters.

The Device Platform Information section of the PIX Device Properties window contains the following fields:

Platform (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Software Version (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Image Name (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Serial Number (optional) Should match what is configured on the target router device. Limited to 80 characters.

Device Owner's Email Address (optional) Used in the To: field when the Email button is selected from the device list. Limited to 80 characters and must be valid Email format.

Step 6 Enter any desired Additional Properties information for the PIX Firewall device you are creating.

Step 7 Click OK.

Step 8 Click Save.

The Devices window reappears with the new PIX Firewall device listed.


Creating a Cisco CNS IE2100


Note To use the Cisco CNS IE2100 functionality on ISC, you must first set up the Cisco CNS IE2100 appliance and the ISC workstation as explained in Appendix B, "Setting Up Cisco CNS IE2100 Appliances Running Cisco CNS Configuration Engine 1.3 Software with ISC" in the Cisco IP Solution Center Installation Guide, 3.0. You must also create a Cisco IOS device to communicate with the Cisco CNS IE2100 appliance. Refer to Appendix A, "Setting Up Oracle for ISC," in the Cisco IP Solution Center Installation Guide, 3.0.


To create a Cisco CNS IE2100 appliance, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

Step 3 Select IE2100.

The Create IE2100 Device window appears, as shown in Figure 4-95.

Figure 4-95 Create IE2100 Device Window

The General section of the Create IE2100 Device window contains the following fields:

Device Host Name (required) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. This field must match the name configured on the target router device. Limited to 256 characters.

Device Domain Name (optional) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. The name must match the domain name on the target router device.

Description (optional) Limited to 80 characters. May contain any pertinent information about the device such as the type of device, its location, or other information that may be helpful to service provider operators.

IP Address (optional) Valid IP address of the Cisco CNS IE2100 device that ISC uses to configure the target router device.

Step 4 Enter the desired information for the Cisco CNS IE2100 device you are creating.

Step 5 Click Save.

The Devices window reappears with the new Cisco CNS IE2100 device listed.


Editing a Device

From the Edit window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular device.

To access the Edit window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices to access the Devices window shown in Figure 4-96.

Figure 4-96 Devices List Window

Step 2 Select a single device to edit by checking the box to the left of the Device Name. You can also select a device to edit by clicking on the hyper link of the device name.

Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a device is selected.

The Edit window appropriate to the type of device selected appears. For example, if you selected a Cisco IOS device the Edit Cisco IOS Device window appears, as shown in Figure 4-97.

Figure 4-97 Editing a Device Window

Step 4 Enter the changes you wish to make to the selected device.

Step 5 Click Save.

The changes are saved and the Devices window reappears.


Deleting Devices

From the Delete window, you can remove selected devices from the database.

To access the Delete window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices to access the Devices window shown in Figure 4-98.

Figure 4-98 Devices List Window

Step 2 Select one or more devices to delete by checking the box(es) to the left of the Device Name(s).

Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more devices are selected.

The Confirm Delete window appears, as shown in Figure 4-99.

Figure 4-99 Confirm Delete Window

Step 4 Click the Delete button to confirm that you want to delete the device(s) listed.

The Devices window reappears with the specified device(s) deleted.


Editing a Device Configuration

From the Config window, you can edit the configuration for a specified device.

To access the Config window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices to access the Devices window shown in Figure 4-100.

Figure 4-100 Devices List Window

Step 2 Select a single device to modify by checking the box to the left of the Device Name.

Step 3 Click the Config button.

The Device Configurations window for the selected device appears, as shown in Figure 4-101.

Figure 4-101 Device Configurations Window

Step 4 Select the box to the left of the Date for the configuration that you wish to modify and click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a device is selected.

The Device Configuration window for the selected device appears, as shown in Figure 4-102.

Figure 4-102 Device Configuration Window

Step 5 Enter the changes you wish to make to the selected device configuration.

Step 6 Click Save.

The changes are saved and the Device Configurations window reappears.

Step 7 Click OK to return to the Devices window.


E-mailing a Device's Owner

From the E-mail window, you can send a device report via e-mail to the owners of specified devices.

To access the E-mail window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Devices to access the Devices window shown in Figure 4-103.

Figure 4-103 Devices List Window

Step 2 Select the devices for which you want to send a device report by checking the box(es) to the left of the Device Name(s).

Step 3 Click the E-Mail button. This button is only enabled if one or more devices are selected.

The Send Mail to Device Owners window appears, as shown in Figure 4-104.

Figure 4-104 Send Mail to Device Owners Window

Step 4 Compose the e-mail that you wish to send to the selected device owners.

Step 5 Click Send.

The e-mail is sent and the Devices window reappears.


Device Groups

Every network element that ISC manages must be defined as a device in the system. Once you have defined your network elements as devices, you can organize the devices into groups for collection and management purposes.

This section describes how to create, edit, and delete device groups and e-mail device group owners. This section includes the following:

Accessing the Device Groups Window

Creating a Device Group

Editing a Device Group

Deleting Device Groups

E-mailing a Device Group

Accessing the Device Groups Window

The Device Groups feature is used to create, edit, and delete device groups and e-mail device group owners.

To access the Device Groups window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Device Groups to access the Device Groups window shown in Figure 4-105.

Figure 4-105 Device Groups Window

The Device Groups window contains the following:

Device Group Name Lists the name of the device group. You can sort the list by device group name.

Description Lists the description of the device group.

From the Device Groups window, you can create, edit, or delete device groups or e-mail device group owners using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new device groups. Enabled only if no device group is selected.

Edit Click to edit a selected device group (select device group by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single device group is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected device group(s) (select device group by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more device groups are selected.

E-mail Click to send e-mail to the owner of a selected device group (select device group by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more device groups are selected.


Creating a Device Group

From the Create Device Group window, you can create different device groups.

To create a device group, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Device Groups.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

The Create Device Group window appears, as shown in Figure 4-106.

Figure 4-106 Create Device Group Window

The Create Device Group window contains the following fields:

Name (required) Must begin with a letter, digit, or underscore followed by letters, digits, underscores, spaces, hyphens, or dots ending with a letter, digit, or underscore. Limited to 80 characters.

Description (optional) Any pertinent information about the device group that could be helpful to service provider operators. Limited to 512 characters.

Step 3 Enter the name and the description of the Device Group that you are creating.

Step 4 Click Edit.

The Select Group Members window appears, as shown in Figure 4-107.

Figure 4-107 Select Group Members Window

Step 5 Select the devices that you wish to be group members by checking the box to the left of the device name.

Step 6 Click OK.

The Create Device Group window appears listing the selected devices, as shown in Figure 4-108.

Figure 4-108 Create Device Group Window

Step 7 Click Save.

The Device Groups window reappears with the new device group listed.


Editing a Device Group

From the Edit Device Group window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular device group.

To access the Edit Device Group window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Device Groups.

Step 2 Select a single device group to modify by checking the box to the left of the Device Group Name.

Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a device group is selected.

The Edit Device Group window appears, as shown in Figure 4-109.

Figure 4-109 Edit Device Group Window

Step 4 Enter the changes you wish to make to the selected device group.

Step 5 Click Save.

The changes are saved and the Device Groups window reappears.


Deleting Device Groups

From the Delete window, you can remove selected device groups from the database.

To access the Delete window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Device Groups.

Step 2 Select one or more device groups to delete by checking the box(es) to the left of the Device Group Names.

Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more device groups are selected.

The Confirm Delete window appears, as shown in Figure 4-110.

Figure 4-110 Confirm Delete Window

Step 4 Click the Delete button to confirm that you want to delete the device group(s) listed.

The Device Groups window reappears with the specified device group(s) deleted.


E-mailing a Device Group

From the E-mail window, you can send a device report via e-mail to the owners of specified device groups.

To access the E-mail window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Device Groups.

Step 2 Select the device groups for which you want to send a device report by checking the box to the left of the Device Group Name.

Step 3 Click the E-Mail button. This button is only enabled if one or more device groups are selected.

The Send Mail to Device owners of selected groups window appears, as shown in Figure 4-111.

Figure 4-111 Send Mail to Device Owners of Selected Groups Window

Step 4 Compose the e-mail that you wish to send to the selected device group owners.

Step 5 Click Send.

The e-mail is sent and the Device Groups window reappears.


Customers

A customer site is a set of IP systems with mutual IP connectivity between them without the use of a VPN. Each customer site belongs to exactly one customer. A customer site can contain one or more (for load balancing) edge device routers. This section describes how to create, edit, and delete customers. This section includes the following:

Accessing the Customers Window

Creating a Customer

Editing a Customer

Deleting Customers

Creating Customer Sites

Creating CPE Devices

Accessing the Customers Window

The Customers feature is used to create, edit, and delete customers.

To access the Customers window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Customers to access the Customers window shown in Figure 4-112.

Figure 4-112 Customers Window

The Customers window contains the following:

Customer Name Lists the names of customers. You can sort the list by customer name.

From the Customers window, you can create, edit, or delete customers using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new customers. Enabled only if no customer is selected.

Edit Click to edit selected customer (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single customer is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected customer (select customer by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more customers are selected.


Creating a Customer

From the Create Customer window, you can create different customers.

To create a customer, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Customers.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

The Create Customer window appears, as shown in Figure 4-113.

Figure 4-113 Create Customer Window

The Create Customer window contains the following fields:

Name (required) Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 63 characters.

Customer Information (optional) Any pertinent information about the customer that could be helpful to service provider operators. Limited to 512 characters.

Site of Origin Enabled (optional) Check this box to enable the site of origin.

Step 3 Enter the name and information for the Customer that you are creating. Check the Site of Origin Enabled box if you wish this enabled.

Step 4 Click Save.

The Customers window reappears with the new customer listed.


Editing a Customer

From the Edit Customer window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular customer.

To access the Edit Customer window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Customers.

Step 2 Select a single customer to modify by checking the box to the left of the Customer Name.

Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a customer is selected.

The Edit Customer window appears, as shown in Figure 4-114.

Figure 4-114 Edit Customer Window

Step 4 Enter the changes you wish to make to the selected customer.

Step 5 Click Save.

The changes are saved and the Customers window reappears.


Deleting Customers

From the Delete window, you can remove selected customers from the database.

To access the Delete window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Customers.

Step 2 Select one or more customers to delete by checking the box to the left of the Customer Name.

Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more customers are selected.

The Confirm Delete window appears, as shown in Figure 4-115.

Figure 4-115 Confirm Delete Window

Step 4 Click the Delete button to confirm that you want to delete the customer(s) listed.

The Customers window reappears with the specified customer(s) deleted.


Creating Customer Sites

To access the Customer Sites window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager.

Step 2 Click on Customer Sites listed in the Inventory and Connection Manager tree in the left column as shown in Figure 4-116.

The Customer Sites window appears.

Figure 4-116 Customer Sites Window

The Customer Sites window contains the following:

Site Name Lists the names of sites. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by site name.

Customer Name Lists the names of customer. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by customer name.

From the Customer Sites window, you can create, edit, or delete customer sites using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new customer sites. Enabled only if no customer site is selected.

Edit Click to edit selected customer sites (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single customer site is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected customer site(s) (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more customer sites are selected.


Creating CPE Devices

The CPE feature provides a list of CPEs that have been associated with a site through the CPE editor or Inventory Manager. To access the CPE Devices window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager.

Step 2 Click on CPE Devices listed in the Inventory and Connection Manager tree in the left column, as shown in Figure 4-117.

The CPE Devices window appears.

Figure 4-117 CPE Devices Window

The CPE Devices window contains the following:

Device Name Lists the names of devices. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by device name.

Customer Name Lists the names of customer. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by customer name.

Site Name Lists the names of sites. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by site name.

Management Type Choices include: Managed, Unmanaged, Managed - Management LAN, Unmanaged - Management LAN, Directly Connected, Directly Connected Management Host, and Multi-VRF.

From the CPE Devices window, you can create, edit, or delete CPE devices using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new CPE devices. Enabled only if no customer site is selected.

Edit Click to edit selected CPE device (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single CPE device is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected CPE device(s) (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more CPE devices are selected.


Providers

This section describes how to create and manage providers. This section includes the following:

Accessing the Providers Window

Creating a Provider

Editing a Provider

Deleting Providers

Creating Provider Regions

Creating PE Devices

Creating Access Domains

Accessing the Providers Window

The Providers feature is used to create and manage providers.

To access the Providers window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Providers to access the Providers window shown in Figure 4-118.

Figure 4-118 Providers Window

The Providers window contains the following:

Provider Name Lists the names of providers. You can sort the list by provider name.

BGP AS The Unique number assigned to each BGP autonomous system.

From the Providers window, you can create, edit, or delete providers using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new providers. Enabled only if no customer is selected.

Edit Click to edit selected provider (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single provider is selected.

Delete Click to delete a selected provider (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more providers are selected.


Creating a Provider

From the Create Provider window, you can create different providers.

To create a provider, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Providers.

Step 2 Click the Create button.

The Create Provider window appears, as shown in Figure 4-119.

Figure 4-119 Create Provider Window

The Create Provider window contains the following fields:

Name (required) Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters.

BGP AS (required) Each BGP autonomous system is assigned a unique 16-bit number by the same central authority that assigns IP network numbers. Range: 1 to 65535.

Contact Information (optional) Any pertinent information about the provider that could be helpful to service provider operators. Limited to 512 characters.

Step 3 Enter the name, BGP AS, and any contact information for the Provider that you are creating.

Step 4 Click Save.

The Providers window reappears with the new provider listed.


Editing a Provider

From the Edit Provider window, you can modify the fields that have been specified for a particular provider.

To access the Edit Provider window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Providers.

Step 2 Select a single provider to modify by checking the box to the left of the Provider Name.

Step 3 Click the Edit button. This button is only enabled if a customer is selected.

The Edit Provider window appears, as shown in Figure 4-120.

Figure 4-120 Edit Provider Window

Step 4 Enter the changes you wish to make to the selected provider.

Step 5 Click Save.

The changes are saved and the Providers window reappears.


Deleting Providers

From the Delete window, you can remove selected providers from the database.

To access the Delete window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Providers.

Step 2 Select provider(s) to delete by checking the box to the left of the Provider Name.

Step 3 Click the Delete button. This button is only enabled if one or more Providers are selected.

The Confirm Delete window appears, as shown in Figure 4-121.

Figure 4-121 Confirm Delete Window

Step 4 Click the Delete button to confirm that you want to delete the provider(s) listed.

The Providers window reappears with the specified provider(s) deleted.


Creating Provider Regions

A Provider Region is considered to be a group of provider edge routers (PEs) within a single BGP autonomous system. The primary objective for defining Provider Regions is to allow a provider to employ unique IP address pools in large Regions, such as Europe, Asia Pacific, and so forth.

To access the Provider Regions window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager.

Step 2 Click on Provider Regions listed in the Inventory and Connection Manager tree in the left column, as shown in Figure 4-122.

The Provider Regions window appears.

Figure 4-122 Provider Regions Window

The Provider Regions window contains the following:

Region Name Lists the names of regions. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by region name.

Provider Name Lists the names of providers. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by provider name.

From the Provider Regions window, you can create, edit, or delete provider regions using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new provider regions. Enabled only if no customer is selected.

Edit Click to edit selected provider regions (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single provider region is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected provider regions (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more provider regions are selected.


Creating PE Devices

The PE Devices feature provides a list of provider edge routers (PEs) that have been associated with the region, either through the PE editor or Inventory Manager.

To access the PE Devices window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager.

Step 2 Click on PE Devices listed in the Inventory and Connection Manager tree in the left column, as shown in Figure 4-123.

The PE Devices window appears.

Figure 4-123 PE Devices Window

The PE Devices window contains the following:

Device Name Lists the names of devices. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by device name.

Provider Name Lists the names of providers. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by provider name.

Region Name Lists the names of regions. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by region name.

Role Type Choices include: PE_POP, PE_CLE, PE_CORE, PE_MVRF.

From the PE Devices window, you can create, edit, or delete providers using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new PE device. Enabled only if no PE device is selected.

Edit Click to edit selected PE device (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single PE device is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected PE device(s) (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more PE devices are selected.


Creating Access Domains

To access the Access Domains window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager.

Step 2 Click on Access Domains listed in the Inventory and Connection Manager tree in the left column, as shown in Figure 4-124.

The Access Domains window appears.

Figure 4-124 Access Domains Window

The Access Domains window contains the following:

Access Domain Name Lists the names of access domain. The first character must be a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limit: 80 characters. You can sort the list by access domain name.

Provider Name Lists the names of providers. Must begin with a letter. Can contain letters, numbers, and these punctuation characters: period, underscore, and dash. Limited to 80 characters. You can sort the list by provider name.

From the Access Domains window, you can create, edit, or delete access domains using the following buttons:

Create Click to create new access domain. Enabled only if no access domain is selected.

Edit Click to edit selected access domain (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if a single access domain is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected access domain(s) (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more access domains are selected.


Resource Pools

Cisco IP Solution Center enables multiple pools to be defined and used during operations. The following resource pools are available:

IP address pool: The IP address pool can be defined and assigned to regions, PEs, or VPNs. This feature gives the service operator the flexibility to manage the allocation of all IP addresses in the network.

Multicast pool: The Multicast pool is used for Multicast MPLS VPNs.

Route Target (RT) pool: A route target is the MPLS mechanism that informs PEs as to which routes should be inserted into the appropriate VRFs. Every VPN route is tagged with one or more route targets when it is exported from a VRF and offered to other VRFs. The route target can be considered a VPN identifier in MPLS VPN architecture. RTs are a 64-bit number.

Route Distinguisher (RD) pool: The IP subnets advertised by the CE routers to the PE routers are augmented with a 64-bit prefix called a route distinguisher (RD) to make them unique. The resulting 96-bit addresses are then exchanged between the PEs, using a special address family of Multiprotocol BGP (referred to as MP-BGP). The RD pool is a pool of 64-bit RD values that IP Solution Center uses to make sure the IP addresses in the network are unique.

Site of origin pool: The pool of values for the site-of-origin (SOO) attribute. The site-of-origin attribute prevents routing loops when a site is multihomed to the MPLS VPN backbone. This is achieved by identifying the site from which the route was learned, based on its SOO value, so that it is not readvertised back to that site from a PE in the MPLS VPN network.

VC ID pool: VC ID pools are defined with a starting value and a size of the VC ID pool. (VC ID is a 32-bit unique identifier that identifies a circuit/port.) A given VC ID pool is not attached to any Inventory object. During the deployment of an Ethernet Service (EWS, ERS for example), VC ID is auto-allocated from the VC ID pool.

VLAN ID pool: VLAN ID pools are defined with a starting value and a size of the VLAN pool. A given VLAN ID pool can be attached to an Access Domain. During the deployment an Ethernet Service (EWS, ERS for example), VLAN ID can be auto-allocated from the Access Domain's VLAN pools. This gives the Service Provider a tighter control of VLAN ID allocation.

All these resources, that are made available to the service provider, enable the automation of service deployment.

This section describes how you can create and manage pools for various types of resources. This section includes the following:

Accessing the Resource Pools Window

Creating an IP Address Pool

Creating a Multicast Pool

Creating a Route Distinguisher and Route Target Pool

Creating a Site of Origin Pool

Creating a VC ID Pool

Creating a VLAN Pool

Deleting Resource Pools

Accessing the Resource Pools Window

The Resource Pools feature is used to create and manage various types of resource pools.

To access the Resource Pools window, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource Pools to access the Resource Pools window shown in Figure 4-125.

Figure 4-125 Resource Pools Window

From the Resource Pools window, you have access to the following buttons:

Pool Type Choices include: IP Address, Multicast Address, Route Distinguisher, Route Target, Site of Origin, VC ID, and VLAN. The fields displayed in the Resource Pools window vary depending on the pool type selected.

Create Click to create new resource pools. Enabled only if no resource pool is selected.

Delete Click to delete selected resource pools (select by clicking the corresponding box). Enabled only if one or more resource pools are selected.


Creating an IP Address Pool

The ISC software uses IP address pools to automatically assign IP addresses to PEs and CEs. Each Region has an IP address pool to use for IP numbered addresses (point-to-point address pool) and a separate IP address pool for IP unnumbered address (loopback address pool).

Within a VPN or extranet, all IP addresses must be unique. Customer IP addresses must not overlap with the provider's IP addresses. Overlapping IP addresses are only possible when two devices cannot see each other—that is, when they are in isolated VPNs.

From the Create IP Address Pool window, you can create IP address pools.

To create an IP address pool, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource Pools.

Step 2 Select IP address from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.

Step 3 Click the Create button.

The Create IP Address Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-126.

Figure 4-126 Create IP Address Pool Window

The Create IP Address Pool window contains the following fields:

IP Address Pool (required) Text field in the format a.b.c.d/mask, for example 172.0.0.0/8.

Pool Mask (bits) (required) Choices include: 30 and 32.

Pool Association (required) Choices include: Region and VPN.


Note If you choose VPN, an additional optional field appears, Pool Name Suffix, when you return to Figure 4-126. This field allows the creation of multiple address pools within the same VPN. If you are creating this address pool for DMVPN usage, the recommendation is to use this field to specify a suffix.


Step 4 Enter the required information for the IP address pool you are creating.

Step 5 Click Save.

The Resource Pools window reappears with the new IP address pool listed.


Creating a Multicast Pool

From the Create Multicast Pool window, you can create multicast pools. These pools are global and are not associated with any provider or customer.

To create a multicast pool, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource Pools.

Step 2 Select Multicast from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.

Step 3 Click the Create button.

The Create Multicast Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-127.

Figure 4-127 Create Multicast Pool Window

The Create Multicast Pool window contains the following fields:

Multicast Address (required) Text field in the format a.b.c.d/mask, for example 239.0.0.0/8. Range: 224.0.0.0/8 to 239.255.255.255/32.

Use for default MDT (optional) This is a checkbox. From the drop-down list, select the data MDT size. MDT refers to a multicast distribution tree (MDT). The MDT defined here carries multicast traffic from customer sites associated with the multicast domain. Default: checked.

Use for Data MDT (optional) This is a checkbox. The data MDT contains a range of multicast group addresses and a bandwidth threshold. Thus, whenever a CE behind a multicast-VRF exceeds that bandwidth threshold while sending multicast traffic, the PE sets up a new data MDT for the multicast traffic from that source. The PE informs the other PEs about this data MDT and, if they have receivers for the corresponding group, the other PEs join this data MDT. Default: checked.

Step 4 Enter the required information for the multicast pool you are creating.

Step 5 Click Save.

The Resource Pools window reappears with the new multicast pool listed.


Creating a Route Distinguisher and Route Target Pool

MPLS-based VPNs employ Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to communicate between PEs to facilitate customer routes. This is made possible through extensions to BGP that carry addresses other than IPv4 addresses. A notable extension is called the route distinguisher (RD).

The purpose of the route distinguisher (RD) is to make the prefix value unique across the network backbone. Prefixes should use the same RD if they are associated with the same set of route targets (RTs) and anything else that is used to select routing policy. The community of interest association is based on the route target (RT) extended community attributes distributed with the Network Layer Reachability Information (NLRI). The RD value must be a globally unique value to avoid conflict with other prefixes.

The MPLS label is part of a BGP routing update. The routing update also carries the addressing and reachability information. When the RD is unique across the MPLS VPN network, proper connectivity is established even if different customers use non-unique IP addresses.

For the RD, every CE that has the same overall role should use a VRF with the same name, same RD, and same RT values. The RDs and RTs are only for route exchange between the PEs running BGP. That is, for the PEs to do MPLS VPN work, they have to exchange routing information with more fields than usual for IPv4 routes; that extra information includes (but is not limited to) the RDs and RTs.

From the Create Route Distinguisher Pool window, you can create route distinguisher pools.

To create a route distinguisher pool, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource pools.

Step 2 Select Route Distinguisher from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.

Step 3 Click the Create button.

The Create Route Distinguisher Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-128.

Figure 4-128 Create Route Distinguisher Pool Window

The Create Route Distinguisher Pool window contains the following fields:

RD Pool Start (required) Range: 0 to 2147483646.

RD Pool Size (required) Range: 1 to 2147483647.

Provider (required)

Step 4 Enter the RD Pool Start and Size information for the route distinguisher pool you are creating.

Step 5 Click the Select button.

The Provider for new Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-129.

Figure 4-129 Provider for New Resource Pool Window

Step 6 Select one of the providers listed and click Select.

Step 7 Click Save.

The Resource Pools window reappears with the new route distinguisher pool listed.


To create a Route Target Pool, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource pools.

Step 2 Select Route Target from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.

Step 3 Click the Create button.

The Create Route Target Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-130.

Figure 4-130 Create Route Target Pool Window

The Create Route Target Pool window contains the following fields:

RT Pool Start (required) Range: 0 to 2147483646.

RT Pool Size (required) Range: 1 to 2147483647.

Provider (required)

Step 4 Enter the RT Pool Start and Size information for the route target pool you are creating.

Step 5 Click the Select button.

The Provider for new Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-131.

Figure 4-131 Provider for New Resource Pool Window

Step 6 Select one of the providers listed and click Select.

Step 7 Click Save.

The Resource Pools window reappears with the new route target pool listed.


Creating a Site of Origin Pool

In ISC, CE sites use private/public AS numbers and when one AS number is used for each VPN, all sites belonging to the same VPN share the same private/public AS number. The default BGP behavior is to drop any prefix if its own AS number is already in the AS path. As a result, a customer site does not learn prefixes of a remote site in this situation. AS-OVERRIDE must be configured (if there are hub sites involved, ALLOWAS-IN must be configured) to allow those prefixes to be sent by PE routers but a routing loop can occur.

For example, CE1 and CE2 belong to the same customer VPN and have the same AS number 65001. The AS path between two customer sites is 65001 - 1234 - 65001 and prefixes cannot be exchanged between customer sites because AS 65001 is already in the path. To solve this problem, AS-OVERRIDE options are configured on PE routers; but it introduces a routing loop into the network without using extended community site of origin attributes.

Site of origin is a concept in ISC architecture that prevents routing loops in sites that are multi-homed to the ISC backbone and in sites using AS-OVERRIDE in conjunction. Site of origin is a type of BGP extended community attribute used to identify a prefix that originated from a site so that the re-advertisement of that prefix back to the site can be prevented. This attribute uniquely identifies the site from which the PE router learned the route. Site of origin is tagged at PE in peering with BGP neighbors using an inbound route-map and works in conjunction with BGP CE-PE routing protocol.

Site of origin must be unique per customer site per VPN/customer (when these sites are multi-homed). Therefore, the same value of site of origin must be used on PE routers connected to the same CE router or to the same customer site.


Note Each time a customer site is created, ISC generates a unique site of origin value from the selected site of origin provider pool. This site of origin value must be unique per customer site per customer/VPN.


From the Create Site of Origin Pool window, you can create site of origin pools.

To create a site of origin pool, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource pools.

Step 2 Select Site of Origin from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.

Step 3 Click the Create button.

The Create Site of Origin Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-132.

Figure 4-132 Create Site of Origin Pool Window

The Create Site of Origin Pool window contains the following fields:

SOO Pool Start (required) Range: 0 to 2147483646.

SOO Pool Size (required) Range: 1 to 2147483647.

Provider (required)

Step 4 Enter the SOO Pool Start and Size information for the site of origin pool you are creating.

Step 5 Click the Select button.

The Provider for new Resource Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-133.

Figure 4-133 Provider for New Resource Pool Window

Step 6 Select one of the providers listed and click Select.

Step 7 Click Save.

The Site of Origin pools window reappears with the new route target pool listed.


Creating a VC ID Pool

From the Create VC ID Pool window, you can create VC ID pools. These pools are global and are not associated with any provider or customer

To create a VC ID pool, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource pools.

Step 2 Select VC ID from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.

Step 3 Click the Create button.

The Create VC ID Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-134.

Figure 4-134 Create VC ID Pool Window

The Create VC ID Pool window contains the following fields:

VC Pool Start (required) Range: 0 to 2147483646.

VC Pool Size (required) Range: 1 to 2147483647.

Step 4 Enter the required information for the site of origin pool you are creating.

Step 5 Click Save.

The VC ID Pools window reappears with the new VC ID pool listed.


Creating a VLAN Pool

From the Create VLAN Pool window, you can create VLAN pools.

To create a VLAN pool, do the following:


Step 1 Navigate Service Inventory > Inventory and Connection Manager > Resource pools.

Step 2 Select VLAN from the Pool Type in the upper left of the Resource Pools window.

Step 3 Click the Create button.

The Create VLAN Pool window appears, as shown in Figure 4-135.

Figure 4-135 Create VLAN Pool Window

The